Sean O’Malley is enjoying his early days as a UFC world champion.
On Saturday night, ‘Sugar’ fulfilled his destiny with a shocking second-round knockout of Aljamain Sterling inside Boston’s iconic TD Garden to capture his first piece of UFC gold. Since then, O’Malley has been enjoying the moment and taking it all in, as evidenced by his appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday.
O’Malley, sitting in a bathtub while smoking a blunt and surrounded by money and his strap, looked back on the 72 hours since his world-title-winning performance and what could potentially come next for the newly minted bantamweight king.
During his conversation with McAfee, O’Malley revealed that he had spoken to Dana White moments after his victory, and suggested that a return in December is in the cards, so long as he is able to recover from a rib injury sustained doing the UFC 292 headliner.
“I talked to [White] right after the fight. They were on a jet to another city already,” O’Malley said. “So yeah, I briefly talked to him on the phone and I just have to get this rib injury… My rib injury is definitely f*cking sore. I don’t know if he kicked me in the body or if it was just from those brief wrestling exchanges. So I’ve really got to give this a couple of weeks. Two, three, or four weeks maybe. Just stay off it, which sucks because I’m ready to get back to f*cking work already.
“But I know the more I stay off it, the healthier I can let my body get and December could be realistic if my body is ready to go.”
SEAN O'MALLEY JUST KNOCKED OUT ALJAMAIN STERLING OMG🥶 #UFC292 pic.twitter.com/DXZQt0PxDa
— Jmag (@Jmagings) August 20, 2023
O’Malley also revealed that he received a message from none other than former two-division UFC Champion, Conor McGregor. The Irishman praised O’Malley’s performance in a DM on Instagram and teased the pair appearing on the same card this December when the UFC closes out its pay-per-view schedule for the year.
“Conor messaged me for the first time on Instagram yesterday,” O’Malley revealed. “He said, ‘Baby, we did it.’ I said, ‘We sure f*cking did. You main eventing in December, I’m co-main event?’ All he replied was, ‘Shot caller.’ I don’t know what that means, but I feel like I kind of do. I’m hoping that’s a yes in f*ckin’ Irish.”
Conor McGregor messaged Sean O'Malley on IG: Baby, we did it.pic.twitter.com/c3yfzT80BD
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) August 22, 2023
Sean O’Malley Slams Henry Cejudo Following the Former Two-Division Champ’s Call Out on Social Media
While recent reports have seemingly ruled out Conor McGregor’s return in December, O’Malley still hopes to make one more appearance before the end of the year. Following his win on Saturday night, ‘Sugar’ called for a rematch with the only man to defeat him inside the Octagon, Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera.
Another potential option is Henry Cejudo, who immediately challenged the bantamweight champ on social media after the conclusion of the main event.
“I watched Henry Cejudo react to me winning. Holy sh*t, I’ve never seen someone so f*cking scared,” O’Malley said. “He was so mad that I won because he’s like, now I have to pretend to talk sh*t on Twitter and act like I want that fight. He’s five-foot f*cking three. My belt is taller than him. You don’t want that f*cking fight. What are you going to do? Take me down?”
Congratulations pussy @SugaSeanMMA how can you say you are the best in the world, When you are not even the best in our city. @danawhite can’t give him Chito because he sucks and if you give him Merat he’s only going to wrestle. Let’s run it in PHX.
— Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) August 20, 2023
Sean O’Malley also addressed accusations that referee Marc Goddard stepped in far too soon and called for the stoppage while Aljamain Sterling was still attempting to move and defend.
“It’s no one that wanted me to win saying it was an early stoppage,” O’Malley said. “It was mostly the people that wanted me to lose. Same with the people that said I didn’t beat Petr Yan. The same people that didn’t want me to beat Petr Yan. I could go out there and kill someone and they would say, ‘Yeah, but he could have resurrected.'”
