UFC bantamweight sensation Sean O’Malley is not happy with UFC for paying him less than what he deserves. The American, who recently had a scintillating fight at UFC 264 against debutant Kris Moutinho, expressed his views on his podcast. O’Malley detailed why he feels disrespected by UFC and, more so, by the matchmaker, Sean Shelby.
“‘I know you’re gonna be asking for a lot of money.’ No sh*t! I’m pulling f*cking numbers. You can’t deny that,” O’Malley said. “Why do they have a problem paying someone what they’re worth? That shouldn’t be an issue.”
“That should be, like – especially when I’m blowing up like that. Those last two fights, third-round finishes, handing out brain damage. You should be like, ‘Hell yeah, I’m gonna pay you a lot. You earned it.’ Dude, I was UFC 264,” he added. (via MMA Fighting)
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O’Malley produced a masterclass en route to picking up Fight of the Night at UFC 264. Moutinho did his best to stand up to the onslaught, but ultimately, came short. This was O’Malley’s 14th career win, which includes 10 KO/TKO wins. The only loss of his career came against Marlon Vera last that came last year.
Sean O’Malley doesn’t want to be treated badly
O’Malley knows it isn’t good to call out UFC’s higher authorities. But he wants to be treated like a normal fighter. He also knows that UFC doesn’t need him at all.
“They don’t need me,” O’Malley said. “The UFC would be 100 percent fine without me. If they want another huge, giant star, I could fill that role for sure, but they don’t need me. But don’t treat me like that.”
“Like, act like I’m not training or nothing. ‘Go, you’re hanging out with 6ix9ine, dude’. Like, I’m hung out with him once. Well, three days. But yeah, so, it’s like, cool, dude. Treat me like a piece of sh*t. No, it’s like, dude, I would rather not deal with him at all and just deal with Dana,” he added.
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It seems like ‘Sugar’ has joined the list of fighters who are opposing UFC’s pay model. It’s not good for him nor the promotion, as many consider him the next big thing after Conor McGregor. Hopefully, everything plays out well in the end between either party.
What did you make of O’Malley’s statements?