UFC News: Sean O'Malley Doesn't Care What Weight He Competes In: 'I'm Bigger Than The Belt'

Although Sean O'Malley has a hypothetical path mentally mapped out, he has zero preferences on which weight division he fights in for future fights.
UFC News: Sean O'Malley Doesn't Care What Weight He Competes In: 'I'm Bigger Than The Belt'
UFC News: Sean O'Malley Doesn't Care What Weight He Competes In: 'I'm Bigger Than The Belt' /

Sean O'Malley kept calm and chill after avenging his loss to Marlon Vera in a decision victory at Saturday night's UFC 299 main event in Miami, Fla.

O'Malley, who took the bantamweight title from Aljamain Sterling less than a year ago at UFC 292, discussed his UFC future, even beyond 135 pounds. 

UFC 299 Results & Highlights: Sean O'Malley Dominates Chito Vera

He said he intends to become one of the sport's all-time greats.

"I don't know," O'Malley told reporters at his post-fight scrum about what's next. "We'll go with the flow. "If it happens, I feel I could move up to '45. I feel like I'm gonna get to a point where I don't even need the belt. I'm bigger than the belt. Having the belt, I'm gonna fight [a] main event at f****** 140, 142, just for f****** fun."

O'Malley said he doesn't value the title as much as his opponents and the long-term star power goals he faces.

UFC 299 Results: Sean O'Malley vs. Chito Vera Ends in One-Sided Masterclass

"The belt’s cool, but once you get to a certain point you can main event and just kinda fight," O'Malley added. Look, Conor [McGregor] was [145] pound champ fighting at 170 fighting Nate. I wanna get there.”

O'Malley joined the UFC in 2017 after a successful DWCS appearance and has been nearly flawless. His biggest win on the road to a UFC title shot was arguably former champion Petr Yan, whom he beat in a closely contested decision at UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi.

Only time will tell what O'Malley's future holds. But for now, the 'Suga' era has just begun at bantamweight.

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Zain Bando
ZAIN BANDO

Zain Bando is a writer for MMA Knockout, part of the Sports Illustrated/Minute Media umbrella. He has covered combat sports since 2019 for notable outlets BJPenn.com and FanSided MMA. He also co-hosts a podcast called "The MMA Outsiders," part of the Empty The Bench Podcast Network, which airs Tuesday nights at 7:00 p.m. ET/4:00 p.m. PT. A Chicago suburban native, Bando has been enthralled with MMA since 2006 and has been fortunate to attend some of the most high-profile events in the sport's history, both as a fan and media member, including UFC 264, Bellator 297 and Kayla Harrison's PFL MMA debut. He is excited to take the next step in his combat sports writing journey and looks forward to continuing his following of the fight game for years to come. Bando can be reached via email at zainbando99@gmail.com or by social media @zainbando99