Sean O’Malley’s Tattoos: UFC Bantamweight Champ Adds to His Ink Collection With Stunning Face Tattoo, Fans React

At UFC 292, Sean O’Malley entered the octagon as a +210 underdog against the former champion Aljamain Sterling. However, when he exited, the Montana native had become the new bantamweight king of the UFC. At the beginning of the round, ‘Sugar’ connected with a perfectly executed straight cross that dropped ‘Funk Master’.

This was followed by a barrage of punches, which forced the referee to stop the fight, thus ending Sterling’s reign as the 135 lb champion and making O’Malley one of the few fighters to claim UFC gold. An occasion that the Dana White Contender Series alumnus seemed to celebrate in his own unique way.

Sean O’Malley commemorated his championship triumph with a tattoo

A post featuring the new UFC bantamweight champion, Sean O’Malley, has recently been causing a stir on Instagram. For anyone familiar with the fighter, O’Malley has a massive social media presence, and going viral is not something new for him. However, there was something particularly special about this instance that was garnering so much attention from the MMA community.

The post featured Sean O’Malley with a facial tattoo placed on his forehead. The tattoo reads, “CHAMP MMXXIII”. For those unfamiliar with Roman numerals, MMXXIII stands for 2023. Therefore, it’s safe to say that the fighter got this tattoo to commemorate his championship victory.

Aside from the new one, the viral post also showcased the other tattoos of the 28-year-old athlete. These include an illustration of an owl on his chest, a snake on his lower torso, and a multitude of others across his body. However, the most popular of them all seems to be the tattoo on his neck, which resembles a king chess piece.

Sean O’Malley’s ‘championship’ tattoo is dividing the MMA community

As soon as the post went online, the MMA community enthusiastically responded to the fighter’s new tattoos. Fans couldn’t help but react to the new tattoos of the newly crowned champion. Here are a few selected reactions:

Without a doubt, there are some people who are absolutely appreciating the bantamweight king’s reign and his tattoos.

• “That chess king on his neck is”
• “Well done Suga, now wear it like a badge of honor. Gotta update UFC 3 created fighter, now looking forward to UFC 5. Congrats”
• “That’s hard. Can’t take being a champ away from him.”

But as with most things, not everyone seems to like the champ’s memorabilia on his forehead.

• “I really wish he would add more to his chest piece.” “Looked at the artist’s page, he’s definitely good but Sean’s choice of tats is.”
• “All dumb tattoos.”
• “His tattoos are mid.”
• “Face tats looking like they got done in prison.”

Overall, opinions on the tattoos seem to be quite diverse among fans. Nevertheless, O’Malley dances to the tune of his own music and is likely to be unfazed by negative reactions. His calm demeanor at UFC 292, before, during, and, after the fight highlight his laid back persona. ‘Suga’ has added to his tattoos after the title win but who will he add to his resume next?

With the 28-year-old’s ascension to the throne, the bantamweight division has grown noisy with contenders chomping at the bits to get a piece of the new champion. Who would you like O’Malley to make his first title defense against? And what do you think about his new ink? Let us know in the comments.

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