Sean O’Malley – Syndication Server

Sean O’Malley explains why he turned down Frankie Edgar for UFC 268 in New York

Sean O’Malley declining a fight with Frankie Edgar ruffled feathers with UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby.

It appears the UFC was looking to book [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] against [autotag]Frankie Edgar[/autotag], but O’Malley declined.

Not because O’Malley (14-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) didn’t want to fight Edgar, but simply because he wasn’t interested in fighting at UFC 268 on Nov. 6 in New York.

O’Malley, who’s fought all of his UFC bouts in Las Vegas, wanted to avoid New York because of the state’s “ridiculous” tax rates and would rather fight a month later at UFC 269. O’Malley got into a disagreement with UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby, whom he claimed was “acting like a f*cking tool” after he turned the date down, but they hashed things out eventually.

With the promotion wanting New Jersey-born Edgar fighting near his home, they moved on and offered Marlon Vera the fight instead.

“I said what I said on ‘The BrOMalley Show,’ I got into some trouble,” O’Malley said in an interview with The Schmo. “I had a conversation with Sean Shelby a couple days after in person, in Houston at the fights. We’re good now. He didn’t like what I said. I didn’t like what he said. I feel like I’m in a position where if you want me to fight in New York, and I don’t want to fight in New York, I’m not gonna fight in New York. I’m in that position, and I had that conversation, and we’re good now.

“But yeah, I got offered a fight in New York against Frankie, and I said if Frankie wants to get whooped, he can get whooped in Vegas in December, a month later. They want Frankie to fight in New York, so they gave him ‘Chito’ (Vera). Getting the ‘Suga Show’ against Frankie would’ve been a great fight for me, but I’m not too worried about it.”

[lawrence-related id=753087,729740]

O’Malley also revealed that despite putting a lopsided beating on tough newcomer Kris Moutinho in July at UFC 264, he’s still healing from a hand injury. Moutinho, on the other hand, is already booked for his next fight.

“I haven’t been offered anything,” O’Malley said. “I just told them, ‘Hey, I want to fight in December,’ and they’re pretty good about when I say this is when I want to fight, obviously in Vegas. No names right now. To be honest, I don’t want to accept any fight. I don’t even care to be offered a fight until my hands are 100 percent. It’s mostly my right hand, my knuckle. It’s a little swollen; it still hurts. I don’t want to accept a fight until I can at least punch Tim’s (Welch) hand without it hurting, so Dec. 11 is still about 15 weeks, so we should be good, but we’ll see.”

One of the biggest rising stars in the UFC, O’Malley turned heads when he explained why he’s not hunting ranked opposition. While he’d love to tangle with former UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz next, he won’t be chasing anyone as long as he gets paid the same amount for every opponent.

“Who will it be? Dominick Cruz? Could be, I don’t know,” O’Malley said. “If he wants to fight in December in Vegas, I would love to dance with him. I don’t think it will be Dominick, I don’t think he’ll take that fight. I don’t think that’s a fight that he wants. But if it is, then yeah, that would probably be next. If not, I don’t know, and to be honest, I don’t really care if it’s a top 10 guy, a top 15 guy, a bum on the street. I’m gonna get paid the same. Whoever I beat up, I’m getting paid the same. Don’t care.”

[vertical-gallery id=632075]

Video: Sean O’Malley’s plan to keep fighting non-ranked opponents is great. Or is it?

Sean O’Malley gets paid the same to fight ranked opponents or proverbial tomato cans, so is his logic sound?

The buzz around [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] has been present ever since his highlight-reel knockout on Dana White’s Contender Series earned him a UFC contract in 2017. Add his look and personality to his fighting ability, and it’s no wonder people are so drawn to him.

Thing is, O’Malley, who is 5-1 in the UFC, hasn’t beaten anybody who is officially ranked at bantamweight. He hasn’t even fought a ranked opponent to this point. That, according to O’Malley, has been by design.

As he explained recently, O’Malley admitted that he’s avoided tougher fights against ranked opponents because financially he has no incentive. Whether he fights a ranked opponent or a proverbial tomato can, he gets paid the same.

It’s a quite logical approach to his career in nature, but it’s seemed to rile up fans. What do you make of this? Is O’Malley onto something? Our “Spinning Back Clique” panel of Matthew Wells, Nolan King and Brian “Goze” Garcia weighed in with host John Morgan.

You can watch their discussion in the video above, or check out the full episode below.

Cody Stamann lobbies for ‘easiest fight in the division’ with overhyped ‘clown’ Sean O’Malley

Cody Stamann continues to angle for the Sean O’Malley fight.

[autotag]Cody Stamann[/autotag] continues to angle for the [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] fight.

Stamann (19-4-1 MMA, 5-3-1 UFC), who was honest in saying he was jealous of O’Malley’s treatment and run in the UFC, doesn’t think the rising star has what it takes to compete with the elite.

So why does he want to fight him? Stamann says it’s easy money.

“He openly said he doesn’t want to fight anyone in the top 15,” Stamann told MMA Junkie. “He was like, ‘I get paid the same way either way. Why would I want to fight someone that’s tougher?’ And honestly, when he said that, I actually had more respect for him because he was dancing around that question the whole time. In an athlete’s eyes – maybe not in the average, casual MMA fan’s eyes, but in an athlete’s eyes – it’s not really about how well you perform against a guy that’s ranked 100th in the world. It’s about how well you perform against the guys that are in the top 10.

“We saw Sean O’Malley fight (Marlon) ‘Chito’ Vera. He went down to leg kicks, and that kind of tells me that he’s not real. The hype surrounding him isn’t real, so it’s a win-win. I fight a guy like Sean O’Malley – I fought the champ, I fought the who’s-who, the guys that nobody wants to fight in MMA, the guys that are knocking people dead. So a fight against Sean O’Malley doesn’t scare me the same way fighting Urijah (Faber) or any of the guys I named would, any of the guys that I fought. I think Sean O’Malley would be one of the worst guys that I fought in my UFC career.”

While Stamann respects O’Malley’s argument that he gets paid the same to fight a former champion or a newcomer, he thinks there’s a little more to his theory.

“I think part of it is the money,” Stamann said. “I think he thinks he’s worth more, and maybe he is. The dude’s a draw. I said one thing about him on Instagram, and I got attacked by like 100 16-year-old kids. It was crazy. I never had that kind of action from that fanbase. So maybe it’s a money thing. But I think ultimately it comes down to he knows deep down that there are guys out there that will absolutely stomp him. In fights, you see guys crack. You see guys break. And I think he’s one of those guys that can be broken.

“He hasn’t taken the knocks that everybody else has to get where they are. You don’t know how you’re going to respond until it happens, and I saw him against ‘Chito’ Vera. I saw him against Andre Soukhamthath. As soon as something goes wrong in a fight, that kid just folds. For me, I know I can create a lot of problems for him. I can make things messy.”

O’Malley (14-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) is coming off a battering of tough newcomer Kris Moutinho at UFC 264. While it was another impressive performance, Stamann has a hard time lauding him for the level of competition he’s faced.

The former NCAA Division-II wrestler is currently on a two-fight losing skid and sees O’Malley as the perfect opportunity to get back to the win column in a big way.

“Honest to God, I’m picking the low-hanging fruit,” Stamann said. “I want an easy fight. I’ve fought nothing but hardened veterans in this sport since I started. I was in the top 10 six months after I signed my first UFC contract. My road has been tough. It’s been filled with animals, and his has been – he’s been on a bike going downhill his entire UFC career. He’s like a 10-1 favorite in almost every fight. So I want the easy fight. I think the easy fight is Sean O’Malley. I think that’s the biggest name, and I think it’s the easiest fight in the division.

“I’m probably going to get attacked again by a bunch of high schoolers, but it’s the truth. You ask me do I want to fight Sean O’Malley or do I want to fight Pedro Munhoz, there’s not even a comparison between those guys. You’re talking about a guy that you literally can’t break and you’re talking about a guy that went out on a stretcher because he got leg kicked. These are two different men inside their head. I think Sean O’Malley is just a boy, and I would love for the opportunity to expose him for what he is: a clown.”

[vertical-gallery id=468925]

Spinning Back Clique: Sean O’Malley’s career strategy, Paige VanZant’s revelation, Rory MacDonald’s future, more

Check out this week’s “Spinning Back Clique,” MMA Junkie’s weekly show that takes a spin through the biggest topics in mixed martial arts.

This week, our panel discusses A.J. McKee’s title win at Bellator 263 and if that makes him the best featherweight in the world. Plus, they dive into MMA fighter pay in the aftermath of Cheyanne Buys’ UFC on ESPN 28 win and subsequent viral revelation; Sean Strickland’s post-fight speech; Bellator and UFC breakout performances; and upcoming heavyweight potential fights.

Our “Spinning Back Clique” panel this week of Matthew Wells, Nolan King and Brian “Goze” Garcia discusses these topics and more with host John Morgan.

This past weekend, the PFL kicked off the promotion’s 2021 playoffs, and in a featured bout, Ray Cooper III shut out [autotag]Rory MacDonald[/autotag] on the scorecards. While he’s just 32, MacDonald has been fighting for 16 years, and he’s now just 1-3 in his past 4 fights, dating back to his run in Bellator. “The Canadian Psycho” has given us a ton of highlights during his storied career, but what does the future hold? Are his days as an elite fighter over?
[autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] made a few statements recently that were quite logical in nature but may have riled up fans a bit in which he admitted financially, there’s no real incentive for him to take on higher-ranked opponents at this point in his career. What do you make of his logic? Is he right?
[autotag]Paige VanZant[/autotag] opened up in the latest edition of her and her husband’s video blog, admitting she became quite depressed following her recent BKFC loss and even saying “I didn’t want to live anymore.” We say all the time that this sport features the highest of highs and the lowest of lows – but what can we take out of comments like this? Does something more need to be done in MMA regarding mental health of the athletes?
[autotag]Gable Steveson[/autotag] claimed Olympic gold in wrestling over in Japan, capping off an incredible run there for the U.S. team, and there’s seems to be a lot of hype around Steveson potentially making the transition to MMA right away. We know that wrestling id a great base for MMA, but it’s obviously not all that you need to win. What’s the biggest career advice you would give to Steveson or any other Olympian making their way into the sport. Is there a promotion they should chase? A camp they should start at? Any training methodologies? What’s the advice?
Looking to this weekend guys, it’s a fight fan’s dream. PFL on Thursday, Bellator on Friday and UFC on Saturday. You’ve got Kayla Harrison vs. Genah Fabian, Cheick Kongo vs. Sergei Kharitonov and Jared Cannonier vs. Kelvin Gastelum in the headliners, but not everyone has the luxury of spending all three nights watching MMA, so narrow it down – what’s one fight on these three cards outside of the headliners that absolutely should not be missed?

Sean O’Malley’s reason for avoiding ranked fighters is calculated – and makes sense

Sean O’Malley is very hip to the reality of what his UFC contract entails.

[autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] has been heavily hyped ever since he earned his way into the UFC with a highlight-reel knockout win on Dana White’s Contender Series back in June 2017.

Four years and six fights later, O’Malley is 5-1 in the UFC. His lone defeat happened under unfortunate circumstances of being injured in the first round of his fight with Marlon Vera. Aside from that, though, it’s been mostly smooth sailing for O’Malley.

For as talented and exciting as he is, O’Malley, 26, remains unranked at bantamweight, and that’s largely because he has yet to fight anyone who’s in the official UFC rankings. O’Malley’s most recent bout in July at UFC 264 was a late third-round TKO against tough promotional newcomer Kris Moutinho after Louis Smolka was forced to withdraw.

For his part, O’Malley (14-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) indicated that the reason he hasn’t leveled up in competition is partly because he knows better – in that he makes the same amount of money per fight, regardless of who’s in the cage with him.

“Next fight, a lot of people want me to fight someone ranked,” O’Malley said recently on the “No Jumper” podcast. “They wanted me to fight someone ranked last fight. I was supposed to fight Louis Smolka (at UFC 264). For me, I have a contract to fight a certain amount of fights, and I’m gonna get paid a certain amount of money whether I fight Louis Smolka, the dude I was supposed to fight, or I fight Petr Yan, the No. 1 bantamweight in the UFC. I get paid the same. I’m gonna fight this dude (who is lower). And I’m going to fight this dude on a Conor McGregor pay-per-view.

“Chael Sonnen always says fight the worst dude on the highest part of the card. A lot of bantamweights, and just people in the UFC, they definitely hate, and it comes from jealousy. I’m getting way more eye balls than them. I perform in there. You can go and watch some of these guys perform, and you literally pick up your phone, start surfing Instagram, you just don’t give a f*ck what they’re doing.”

[lawrence-related id=636959,637298,633665]

Perhaps that will change soon, with talk of the UFC wanting to book O’Malley’s next fight against No. 8 Frankie Edgar. But to O’Malley’s point, what’s in it for him to make that jump?

Without knowing details, perhaps O’Malley’s desire is to keep building his name by beating lesser fighters until his contract is up – or until the UFC is ready to talk about a new deal, whichever comes first. At least then he’d have an opening to negotiate a better deal before fighting ranked opponents.

Fans won’t want to hear this, but it’s smart for O’Malley to do things his way and at least try to grab what little leverage he can by putting himself in the best position to succeed.

It’ll be interesting to see how things continue to unfold with O’Malley’s career.

The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly serious, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqvpne7c1q486dvv player_id=none image=https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]