"Irish people gotta stick together"- Shaquille O'Neal vows to support 'Sugar' Sean O'Malley ahead of his fight against Petr Yan at UFC 280

Sean O'Malley recently met basketball legend Shaquille O'Neal at an NBA pre-season game in Abu Dhabi. 'Sugar' is already in station with less than two weeks left for his UFC 280 clash against Petr Yan at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.

Informing O'Neal of his next fight, O'Malley stated that it would be aired on Saturday morning in the United States, unlike the usual pay-per-views which air on Saturday nights. The former four-time NBA champion promised to support 'Sugar', claiming to have a common Irish connection. 'Shaq' told O'Malley:

"I'll check it out. Irish people gotta stick together, O'Malley and O'Neil, baby."

O'Neal also extended O'Malley an invitation to parties at next year's Super Bowl in Glendale, Arizona.

Watch the interaction between Sean O'Malley and Shaquille O'Neal below:

O'Malley and O'Neal barely have any connection with Ireland barring their surnames. While O'Malley was born and raised in Montana, USA, his surname comes from his grandmother who was Irish. Meanwhile, Shaq has an Irish surname, probably because both Irish and black people lived side-by-side in the ghettos of 19th century America.

As an ambassador for Krispy Kreme, O'Neal claimed that he's Irish ahead of the store opening their first branch in Ireland.

Pssst! Shaquille O'Neal's got something to tell y'all... 😉
#TheOGiscoming https://t.co/HTymIqtYwx

Sean O'Malley believes he will inch close to Conor McGregor's stardom with a dominant win over Petr Yan

Sean O'Malley will face the toughest test of his career when he meets Petr Yan at UFC 280. While 'Sugar' has racked up a series of bonus-winning performances, he is yet to prove himself against high-level competition. The 27-year-old is a massive +300 underdog in some sportsbooks going into his clash against 'No Mercy'.

Here are the opening odds for Petr Yan vs. Sean O'Malley:

Petr Yan -400 (1/4)
Sean O’Malley +300 (3/1)

(odds via @betonline_ag) 👀 #UFC280 https://t.co/LVfOqwDqii

However, O'Malley believes that the people who are counting him out actually want him to win. According to 'Sugar', he is next in line to fill the void of a superstar left by Conor McGregor's recent inactivity.

O'Malley also believes that a dominant win against Yan at UFC 280 will propel him closer to McGregor's level of stardom. He recently said on the DC & RC show:

“I’d say people are hoping I don’t win, but to be honest, I would say the majority of people that think I won’t win actually want me to win. People want a superstar. There’s really no one in the UFC right now that is that Conor level. Me, I go out there and beat Petr in spectacular fashion, I’m climbing. I’m not going to be there yet and I know that, but I’m climbing to become that guy. I want to be the Conor."

Watch Sean O'Malley's appearance on DC & RC below: