Sean O’Malley won the Best UFC Fighter award at the 2024 ESPY Awards, adding to his accolades after securing the 135-pound world title and successfully defending it against Marlon Vera.
Sean O’Malley added another piece of hardware to his collection.
On Thursday night, the 2024 ESPY Awards took place. This annual ESPN awards show celebrates the best in sports over the previous year. In the category for Best UFC Fighter, the UFC bantamweight champion won the award. He beat out light heavyweight champ Alex Pereira, lightweight titleholder Islam Makhachev, and strawweight champion Zhang Weili.
Since the start of 2023, O’Malley has competed twice. He won the 135-pound world title with a second-round knockout victory over Aljamain Sterling in August at UFC 292 in Boston. Then he returned to the octagon in March to headline a loaded UFC 299 event in Miami against rival Marlon Vera. O’Malley dominated “Chito” over five rounds in their rematch to earn his first successful title defense.
As of now, O’Malley’s second title defense has not been announced. The fast-rising star is expected to face streaking contender Merab Dvalishvili.
O’Malley joins 2023 winner Jon Jones on the list of fighters to capture the Best MMA Fighter ESPY award. Others include Charles Oliveira, Khabib Nurmagomedov, and Daniel Cormier. Before 2019, MMA fighters competed alongside boxers for a Best Fighter ESPY award before receiving their own category.
Demetrious Johnson, Conor McGregor, and Ronda Rousey are previous winners of the Best Fighter statuette.