[autotag]Darren Till[/autotag] says Sean O’Malley isn’t getting preferential treatment from [autotag]Dana White[/autotag].
O’Malley (17-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) stopped Aljamain Sterling by Round 2 TKO to claim the bantamweight title in this past Saturday’s UFC 292 headliner at TD Garden in Boston.
In the lead-up to the fight, Sterling said the quick turnaround was against his will. But Till explains that O’Malley’s push is simply from a business perspective, which is what ultimately matters to the UFC.
“If there is or there isn’t, it doesn’t matter,” Till said in an interview with Betting Sites. “If you’re the guy who’s bringing in the numbers – for example, when I last fought, there were some superstars on the card, one in particular in Paddy (Pimblett). And other times I’ve fought, other times I do interviews, always just look at my views – they always hit the spot. Boom, massive views.
“If you’re bringing them views, you are going to get special treatment. There’s no other way around it. Dana White is not our friend. He might like us, but he’s not our friend. This is a business relationship. Whatever it’s called, ‘Dana White privilege,’ for me it’s just basically superstar privilege. Sean O’Malley is a superstar.”
Till picked Sterling to beat O’Malley and admits “The Sugar Show” exceeded his expectations.
“Sean O’Malley’s coach actually tweeted me after that fight saying how do you feel now? I tweeted back at him saying I feel like a sucker,” Till said. “Right’s right and wrong is wrong, and I was completely wrong. I thought Aljo was going to dominate Sean O’Malley.
“Sean O’Malley proved me and a lot of people wrong. He’s the legitimate champ and he’s a f*cking very good champ. Do I like his style outside the octagon? No, with all the hair and smoking weed all the time and stuff like that. But who am I to say anything? He’s the bantamweight champion of the world, and I congratulate him on all his success.”
O’Malley is a star, but will he ever surpass Conor McGregor? Till says not a chance.
“No,” Till said. “No one’s going to be a bigger name than Conor. Forget about that.”
[lawrence-related id=2673206,2673190,2673187,2672814]
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 292.