"Even if he's not the champ" - Sean O'Malley reveals his 'end goal' opponent in the bantamweight division
Sean O'Malley has only fought unranked fighters in the UFC so far. However, he wants to somehow make his way through the other bantamweight contenders and fight interim champion Petr Yan sometime in the future.
During a recent conversation with ESPN MMA reporter Brett Okamoto, O'Malley was asked which current UFC bantamweight superstar interests him the most for a matchup. 'Sugar' mentioned the name of 'No Mercy'.
"God, I want to fight Petr. I know he is the champ and I know I have to beat certain people to get to that. But that's a fight that I want, eventually. That is kind of the end goal. Even if he's not the champ, like that's a fight I want. I think he is one of the best pound-for-pound (fighters) in the world, probably top three. I just think that it is a sweet fight. I love his style, his boxing, the way he switches stances and covers up, his defense. Like he's just so good and that's a fight I really want."
Watch Sean O'Malley in conversation with ESPN MMA's Brett Okamoto below:
Petr Yan (16-2) is expected to challenge UFC bantamweight titleholder Aljamain Sterling (20-3) in a unification bout early next year. He defeated Cory Sandhagen at UFC 267 in Abu Dhabi to seal interim gold and a Sterling rematch.
Sean O'Malley's fight will open the UFC 269 main card this weekend
Sean O'Malley (14-1) will feature against Raulian Paiva (21-3) in the main card opener of UFC 269 in Las Vegas this Saturday.
The event will be headlined by a lightweight championship bout between Charles Oliveira and Dustin Poirier. Meanwhile, the co-main event will see Amanda Nunes defend her women's bantamweight belt against Julianna Pena
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O'Malley has won two bouts in a row since his only professional MMA career loss to Marlon Vera at UFC 252 in last August.
Paiva, on the other hand, is on a three-fight winning streak after suffering back-to-back losses at the hands of Kai Kara-France and Rogerio Bontorin in 2019.