Sean O'Malley jibes at "dork" Conor McGregor, names three fighters to beat to become "one of the greatest of all-time"
Sean O'Malley isn't holding back when taking shots on his newly formed rivalry with UFC star Conor McGregor. For someone who once idolized McGregor, O'Malley has immersed himself in the rivalry completely, firing fresh shots at the Irishman.
The UFC bantamweight champion, during his ascent as a contender, noted a hint of disregard every time McGregor spoke about O'Malley's performance. Moreover, 'The Notorious' seemingly hit a nerve when he attacked O'Malley while referencing boxer Ryan Garcia's recent failed drug test.
O'Malley is gearing up to take on Merab Dvalishvili in an attempt to make the second defense of his bantamweight throne on Sept. 14 at UFC 306 (Noche UFC). Speaking about how he can eclipse McGregor's status as the most prominent star in the organization during a recent interview with ESPN MMA, O'Malley said:
“Right now it’s Conor McGregor [highest selling pay-per-view fighter], 100 percent. He’s a dork, but it’s the truth. For me to get to that, I need to go out there and knock out Merab, I go up to [145 pounds], I beat Ilia [Topuria], I beat Max [Holloway], I beat Umar [Nurmagomedov], I’m three fights away from being one of the greatest of all-time, one of the most exciting of all-time. There’s [a] difference."
Check out O'Malley's comments below (20:00):
O'Malley is arguably one of the best prospects to graduate from the ranks of Dana White's Contender Series. The American built on the hype of a viral knockout victory over Alfred Khashakyan with four straight victories in the UFC.
He suffered a minor setback when he fought Marlon Vera at UFC 252, but since then, has embarked on a seven-fight undefeated run. He also avenged the only loss of his career against Vera with a unanimous decision victory at UFC 299.
Why was Sean O'Malley miffed by Conor McGregor's comments?
Sean O’Malley was hit with a six-month suspension after testing positive for ostarine in 2019.
In a since-deleted X post, Conor McGregor dragged O'Malley's name in the rant directed at boxer Ryan Garcia, who failed drug tests before and after his win over Devin Haney. 'The Notorious' warned both the combatants that he would "bust" them up and labeled them "two little ostarine heads."
Check out the X post below:
It later came to light that O'Malley, Marvin Vettori, and Augusto Mendes all tested positive for ostarine because of contaminated supplements. Speaking about McGregor's comments that bothered him in the aforementioned interview with ESPN MMA, O'Malley said:
"You go back, all my interviews I'd say I wanna be like Conor. I wanna do what Conor did. Now I'm 29. I've defended the belt, something he's never done by the way. I just feel pure jealousy from him. Right now, I'm not a huge fan of Conor. The stuff that he was saying on Twitter [X], the stuff that affected my life. He's laughing at it and then he goes and deletes it because he's on drugs...We're not on great terms."