"Sean O'Malley is that guy" - When Khabib Nurmagomedov correctly predicted 'Sugar's rise to UFC superstardom
Sean O'Malley won the biggest fight of his life at UFC 292 and secured the bantamweight championship against Aljamain Sterling. 'Sugar' knocked out 'Funk Master' in the second round of the main event in his very first title fight.
Former UFC lightweight Khabib Nurmagomedov had seen it coming a long time ago. According to Will Harris, award-winning filmmaker and creator of Anatomy of a Fighter, Nurmagomedov predicted O'Malley's rise to stardom. Harris is known to have spent a lot of time filming around 'The Eagle' and his entourage. Naturally, he has a lot of anecdotes to relate.
On an episode of the Joe Rogan Experience, Harris narrated an incident from the night of Khabib Nurmagomedov's Hall of Fame induction and his comments about Sean O'Malley.
Harris said:
“I feel like Khabib is the best read on fights and fighters. His f*****g IQ when it comes to fighters - when he was getting inducted [in the Hall of Fame], they asked him how good was O’Malley, like it was me, DC [Daniel Cormier], Ali [Abdelaziz] backstage. And Khabib was like, ‘Sean O’Malley is that guy.’ And if Khabib said that, I was like, 'Yeah.'”
Check out Harris' full comments on the Joe Rogan Experience:
Dana White lauds 'star' Sean O'Malley for record-breaking pay-per-view
UFC president Dana White was all praises for Sean O'Malley as he credited him for being an massive draw at UFC 292.
White spoke at the post-fight press conference and relayed some numbers to the press about breaking the venue's gate record. He also labeled the main event championship fight as the biggest bantamweight championship fight in UFC history:
“We broke the all-time gate record here. Bruce Springsteen just played here and did $5 million. We did over $7 million. The Boston Garden. The craziest f*****g sports town on Earth. Other than their team that plays here, we’re the biggest thing that’s ever been here. So what does that tell you about O’Malley? This is also the biggest bantamweight championship fight ever on pay-per-view, globally. It broke the record. Biggest bantamweight championship fight ever. O’Malley isn’t gonna be a star. He is a star.”
Sean O'Malley's status as the bantamweight champion is sure to cement him as one of the faces of the promotion, despite being a massive fan favorite before it.
Check out Dana White's full comments below: