Sean O’Malley Explains Why He’s Fighting On UFC 269 PPV – And Dominick Cruz Is Into The Fight

The rest of the bantamweight division might want to start using marketing tips from Sean O’Malley.

O’Malley opens this Saturday UFC 269 main card in the range against Raulian Paiva, a reservation that didn’t raise too many eyebrows because of O’Malley’s popularity; however, another bantamweight match has Pedro Munhoz and Dominick Cruz – Number 11 and number 14 respectively in MMA Fighting Global Ranking – has a lower position on the card on the ESPN+ preliminary.

So how does “Sugar” have a higher payout than Cruz, a former UFC champion and arguably the best ever to compete at the 135-pound division?

“I giggled a little bit just because I remember Dominick Cruz saying something, trying to teach young boxers how to promote, just the same things, how to do something,” O’Malley said. Time MMA. “That’s Dominick Cruz, he’s a legend, I can’t sit here and disrespect him, but he’s very popular. There’s a reason why UFC ranks cards in a particular way, you know what I mean?

“If they think Dominick Cruz and Pedro Munhoz can sell more pay-per-views than me, they’ll put him on the main list. I think that’s just the business of the UFC and they understand what they’re doing, so they’re there because they’re there.”

Since earning a contract on White DanaSeries Contenders of in 2017, O’Malley fought seven times for the UFC and five of those times were on PPV, including the co-main event. UFC 252 a point below Stipe Miocic–Daniel Cormier triad. Although O’Malley has yet to break into the top 10, he remains one of the bantamweight division’s most talked-about fighters in terms of lead and results after every card he comes across.

That rumor prompted O’Malley to call himself an “underrated champion,” a theme he’s included in the launch of his latest merchandise. He has said many times that he chooses teamfights based on name value over rank because his compensation is virtually unchanged no matter the opponent.

O’Malley said: “”The unappreciated champion” makes sense to go into this fight when I’m on the main card. “I also had Paiva move all the way to the main card and we had two of the top 10 fighting my cards. It makes sense. ”

O’Malley is currently sporting a UFC 6-1 record (14-1 overall) and beyond losing Marlon Vera at UFC 252, he impressed with his stylish performances. The 27-year-old has also worked to hone his public personality through his tattoos and wild hair color, social media activity and his podcast.

When asked why he’s become such a polarizing figure, O’Malley downplayed his extracurricular activities because he believes people’s opinions of him are largely based on his ability to do so. his actual fighting prowess.

O’Malley said: “I think it was my performance. “All the gossip, all the hair, everything, the face, all of that is just additive, I think. My performance, you just want to see me fight. I move differently than everyone else, I think that’s really how it is.

“But I could be wrong. That could be my beautiful smile.”