TMZSports.com
“Kid, you have no idea how much money you’re gonna make.”
That’s what UFC president Dana White told “Suga” Sean O’Malley as the newly crowned champion stood in the Octagon with the UFC honcho after defeating the great Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292.
28-year-old O’Malley joined Babcock on the “TMZ Sports” TV show on Friday … and chopped it up about all things Aljo, how life’s changed since becoming champ, reaching Conor McGregor levels of fame, his offer to train Henry Cejudo in wrestling, and what he wants next!
“Chito was acting like he earned a title shot. I think he even tweeted he was the most exciting bantamweight which is just bonkers. I don’t know how he sees that. He needs to settle down a little bit, cause I do have options.
“Henry, I pretend like is an option, realistically it’s not. He lost his last fight. Alexandre Pantoja, the 125 lb. champ, throwing my name out there a little bit. That’s an option. Merab’s an option. I might just wait for Cory [Sandhagen] if Chito’s gonna act like he earned a title shot.”
FYI, Sean and Chito have history. The men fought in 2020, and Vera won. It’s O’Malley’s lone career loss.
(We also talked to Chito about his win over Pedro, and a possible fight with Suga.)
TMZSports.com
Sean says there’s a way for Vera to lock down the fight, but it’ll involve eating a little crow first and saying something along the lines of … “Ya know what Suga, thank you so much for giving me this opportunity. I didn’t deserve it. I didn’t earn it, but I appreciate you.
“If he came at it like that I would think about it more. But the fact that he’s tweeting, ‘I earned that’ and stuff, it’s throwing me off a bit. I got options. I’m not too worried about it.”
Of course, Sean dropped Aljamain with a perfectly placed straight right about 30 seconds into the second round, and after some effective ground and pound, the fight was stopped by ref Marc Goddard … and just like that, O’Malley was Bantamweight champion.
As for how life has changed … Sean says while he was a star before winning the title, he’s now more than just a big deal amongst MMA fans.
“I kind of had everything-ish before ‘champ status,’ but definitely getting recognized way more in public by random people you wouldn’t think were fight fans. The casuals that don’t watch the fight, watched that fight,” Suga said.
Speaking of fame and making money … we also talked to Sean about acting (he’s received movie offers) and whether he believes he will ever fight Aljo again.
Check out the clip!