With his colorful personality, incredible fighting style, and numerous highlight-reel knockouts, it’s no surprise Sean O’Malley is one of the biggest names in the UFC right now. Currently holding the bantamweight title, ‘Suga’ got his nickname according to his first MMA coach because “…you’re so sweet to watch.”

When he is not fighting, O’Malley also streams himself, playing games on his Twitch channel. Sounds great, right? Relaxing with video games after a hard day of being a UFC fighter. However, for the bantamweight champion, one such session turned into a nerve-wracking ordeal! What happened? Let’s dive in and learn more about the terrifying incident.

Armed police arrive at Sean O’Malley’s house

In the middle of his gaming session, Sean O’Malley’s peaceful afternoon turned upside down, and not because of an in-game opponent! Speaking on an episode of the ‘Timbo Suga Show’ podcast, the bantamweight champion recalled, “About an hour and a half in I saw a f**king cop fly down my road. I feel like instantly I kind of knew because I’ve heard about like the big, big streamers getting swatted.”

Peeking out the window, O’Malley saw multiple police cars and officers, guns drawn. The air was thick with tension as he further stated, “Maybe it’s something else.  But then they’re on the intercom and I see a bunch of cops and they’re like, ‘walk out with your hands up.’ So I f**king walk out, hands up.”

It’s hard to imagine the panic O’Malley must have felt in that moment as he shared, “I was like, okay, if I just listen to them I’ll be alright, but you never know.  Someone sneezes and pulls the trigger. I’ve got f**king shotguns pointed at me, ARs from like four different cops pointed at me.”

The surreal nature of the moment, coupled with the real possibility of disaster, hit hard as he confessed that he was handcuffed and put in the back of a police vehicle while the officers sorted the situation out. But what exactly led to such chaos and mayhem?

Did O’Malley really commit a crime?

For those unfamiliar with ‘Swatting’, it’s a dangerous prank that involves someone calling the authorities with a false report of a crime and sending armed police to an unsuspecting victim’s home. Sounds absurd, right? But it’s something that live streamers have had to deal with for a while. Names like ‘IShowSpeed’, ‘Adin Ross’, ‘XQC’, and ‘ImperialHal’ are some of the notable names in the streaming world that have fallen victim to the ‘prank’.

So why were the police called on Sean O’Malley? He explained that “Someone called the cops and told them there was an active shooter inside and two dead people in the house.” And for O’Malley, this left a lingering frustration. “I wish we could find that little weasel who called,” he said, noting that the perpetrator remains unidentified.

While the incident is now in the past, it does raise concerns about the dangers of supposedly ‘harmless’ online pranks having real-world consequences. As Sean O’Malley shakes off the shock of his swatting ordeal, his focus now turns to an even bigger challenge—defending his bantamweight title at UFC 306. With Merab Dvalishvili standing in his way, O’Malley’s attention is back where it belongs: inside the Octagon!