Sean O'Malley on why his loss to Marlon Vera was a "fluke"
Sean O'Malley's impressive win over Petr Yan at UFC 280 in October 2022 cemented him as a bonafide title contender. However, O'Malley's championship potential has not always been unanimously agreed upon, with many believing him to be another UFC hype train until last year.
Sean O'Malley's loss to Marlon Vera at UFC 252 is the only one on his record, but 'Sugar' has continued to claim he is still undefeated. The loss came about after Vera kicked O'Malley's calf, which shut down his peroneal nerve. The American was unable to feel his foot and was eventually TKO'd after falling to the ground.
O'Malley recently appeared on the FLAGRANT podcast, hosted by Andrew Schulz. 'Sugar' reiterated why his loss to Marlon Vera was an accident and said:
"Why hasn't that motherf*cker done that again? [Marlon Vera] didn't he kick Jose Aldo? Why did he let Jose Aldo beat him? Why didn't he kick [Aldo] in the nerve? Why has he never done that kick again? That's what I'm saying. In the UFC, how many thousands of kicks [have been thrown] and how many times [did] they kick that nerve? Very rarely, very rarely does that nerve get kicked... this sh*t was a fluke."
Watch the video below from 49:35:
Sean O'Malley is likely to face Aljamain Sterling next following the bantamweight champion's win over Henry Cejudo at UFC 288. 'Sugar' made an appearance in the octagon following Sterling's victory, where things escalated after Merab Dvalishvili donned O'Malley's jacket.
Sean O'Malley on what he thought during his face-off with Aljamain Sterling
Sean O'Malley was in attendance at UFC 288 last weekend, which was headlined by a bantamweight title clash between Aljamain Sterling and Henry Cejudo. Sterling won the bout via split-decision and appears likely to face 'Sugar' next.
O'Malley's appearance in the octagon following the fight almost turned into chaos. UFC president Dana White even admitted that the face-off between O'Malley and Sterling was a "bad idea" during the post-event press conference.
Sean O'Malley was interviewed by MMA journalist The Schmo following UFC 288, where he was asked to share what he was thinking during his face-off with Sterling. 'Sugar' said:
"I thought, 'This dude's not as big as he looks on TV.' I've seen him in person at the [UFC Performance Institute] with clothes on, the dude's shredded, don't get me wrong. But he's just not as big as he looks."
Watch the video below from 0:55: