Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Simon Samano

UFC champ Sean O’Malley on reaching Conor McGregor-level stardom: ‘Not quite there yet’ but almost

Sean O'Malley recalls the general reaction in the summer of 2017 when he declared prior to his Dana White’s Contender Series audition that he’d be bigger than the biggest star the UFC has ever seen.

“I remember sitting there vividly doing an interview telling people I will be bigger than Conor McGregor,” O’Malley said Monday on ESPN’s “First Take.” “I got a lot of crap for it. There was definitely a lot of hate online saying, like, ‘Come on, man, that’s not realistic.’ But in my mind it was. I just knew I had to do the things that I’ve been doing, which is knocking people out, putting on beautiful performances, and I would get there.”

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.