"I can become the Anderson Silva" - UFC star Sean O'Malley reveals what drives him to continue fighting despite achieving massive fame and wealth already
Sean O'Malley's win over Petr Yan at UFC 280 cemented him as a bonafide performer inside the octagon and more than just a hype train. Even prior to the biggest win of his career, O'Malley had garnered a huge fan following and all the commercial perks that come along with it.
The bantamweight joined Jake Paul and his brother Logan on the latter's podcast IMPAULSIVE. He was questioned as to what is the motivating factor that continues to push him despite having achieved fame and wealth in his young career.
'Sugar' responded by talking about his potential and backed himself to replicate the success of former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva:
"I think just realizing my potential now, at this point, I'm like - I can become the Anderson Silva. Like, I can be looked at as one of the greatest fighters of all time and that's definitely what still drives me. And I just turned 28, so I feel like I got a solid 10 years."
'The Spider' dominated the middleweight division and holds the record for the longest title reign in UFC history that was part of a 16-fight win streak across seven years.
With Sean O'Malley's UFC 280 win propelling him to No.1 in the bantamweight rankings, he is primed to challenge for the title next and will hope to embark on a similar run to Silva's.
Sean O'Malley addresses his approach towards criticism from fans
Sean O'Malley's win over Petr Yan came under controversial circumstances and the split decision wasn't received well by many fans and UFC fighters.
O'Malley himself went back and rewatched the fight before confirming that he believed he won the fight.
Just rewatched the fight, def won. ❤️
'Sugar' also addressed the widespread criticism on the internet towards him and stated that he is immune to the noise. He said on the IMPAULSIVE podcast:
"The media really doesn't affect me. Like those guys that are talking sh*t are just so stupid. I feel like if it did affect me, it'd be me being weak-minded. And I feel like everything I have worked on in myself in the last five-six years, growing, becoming famous, it's to deal with that stuff."
He added:
"So I'm not affected by it. And the people that I respect, like I respect their opinions, all those guys are like, 'Dude that was so entertaining.'"
Check out the full episode of the podcast with Sean O'Malley below: