"Someone I looked up to" - Sean O'Malley on Conor McGregor's influence on his career

Sean O'Malley (L) Conor McGregor (R) [Credits: Instagram @sugaseanmma @thenotoiousmma]

Conor McGregor's career has provided a blueprint for Sean O'Malley, serving as an example of what he should and should not do as he continues his UFC career. On an episode of The Pivot Podcast, O'Malley was asked about who some of the fighters were that inspired him.

O'Malley spoke about how he his training before watching the sport and how McGregor changed that. O'Malley said:

"I kind of started watching more consistently actually when Conor kind of blew up. So that was, like, someone I was like, damn that's kind of what I was envisioning me doing. But it's cool to watch him go through it. ... you know I've learned a ton from Conor. A lot of what to do, what not to do, but yeah, probably Conor was like someone I looked up to."

'Sugar' seems grateful that McGregor's meteoric rise happened before his own, as he has been able to learn from the Irishman's mistakes. O'Malley went on to further mention some elements of McGregor's approach that he studied, saying:

"I watched every interview, like what he you know (was) dressing, like, well why do people want to watch him? He's good at talking, good at performing. That's the main thing, you have to be good at performing. You can talk good, dress good, but if you can't win fights, it doesn't matter."

O'Malley has certainly become known for his eccentric clothing, especially his hairstyles. He's also been able to show potential on the mic at times, although he's not as polished as McGregor. O'Malley hit the nail on the head in this regard, but without performances, none of his flare matters. Hopefully O'Malley can get back on track after Saturday's accidental eye poke and continue putting on exciting performances.

You can watch O'Malley's full interview on The Pivot Podcast below:

Sean O'Malley rules fight vs Muhoz 'a dub'

Sean O'Malley has continued to troll fans over Satuday's accidental eye poke against Pedro Munhoz at UFC 276. O'Malley recently took to Twitter to empthatically declare the outcome as another win:

BREAKING NEWS!!! SUGA STATE ATHLETIC COMMISSION OFFICIALLY RULES PEDRO VS SUGA A FAT FUCKIN DUB FOR SUGA

O'Malley elaborated on this sentiment on Instagram, where he declared the win a finish. Perhaps this gimmick of refusing to admit defeat was also inspired by McGregor, who has done the same on several occasions. McGregor famously described his foot as a 'balloon' in the lead-up to his bout against Khabib Nurmagomedov, absolving himself of responsibility for the defeat.