Sean O’Malley Wants To Keep Fighting Unranked Opponents: ‘I Get Paid The Same’

Despite criticism from many for not fighting high-level opposition, O'Malley actually has a good reason for continuing to fight unranked opponents.

Sean O'Malley
Image via Instagram

Sean O’Malley is happy to keep fighting unranked opposition.

O’Malley is one of the most exciting and hyped up prospects in the UFC bantamweight division, going 5-1 with the promotion overall so far.

However, he has faced criticism for not facing high-level opposition which has seen him remain unranked and not fighting the very best in the shark tank that is the 135-pound division.

His latest opponent was the short-notice debutant Kris Moutinho at UFC 264 last month, but prior to that, he was initially set to face Louis Smolka. Before that, he TKO’d the no-longer-ranked Thomas Almeida who was well past his best.

O’Malley: I’m Going To Fight The Lower-Ranked Dude For The Same Pay

And despite rumors of a fight with Frankie Edgar, it looks like O’Malley will continue fighting unranked opponents — until his pay changes.

“Next fight, a lot of people want me to fight someone ranked,” O’Malley said on his podcast (via MMA Junkie). “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.”

While he will undoubtedly receive criticism for this, O’Malley does make a good point. Why face a harder fight if you can take an easier one and get paid the same?

Published on August 15, 2021 at 4:18 pm
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