UFC fighter Sean O’Malley is keen to headline UFC 296 opposite Conor McGregor despite not having returned to full training following a rib injury and a recent diagnosis of “turf foot”.
Sean O’Malley is eager to return to mixed martial arts action despite not being fully fit yet. He’s setting his sights high, expressing a desire to be headlined opposite Conor McGregor at UFC 296. Speaking on his podcast, O’Malley acknowledged the competitive advantage Conor brings to pay-per-view events. He said acknowledging his current popularity, “But also, I could do my own pay-per-view and Conor could do his own PPV, and mine wouldn’t be as big yet. But I could do one of the biggest PPVs in the UFC right now.”
O’Malley recently achieved victory over Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292, drawing in significant pay-per-view numbers. Alumni and two-division titleholder, Henry Cejudo, claimed that the match pulled a viewership ranging between 300,000 to 350,000, citing sources within ESPN; UFC’s broadcast partner. However, Pay-per-view stats are typically not made public hence the figures can’t be independently confirmed. O’Malley challenged Cejudo’s figures via Twitter, implying they were wrong and claiming that UFC informed him of achieving upwards of 570,000 views versus Henry & Aljo’s PPV garnering 135,000 views only.
O’Malley stated his intention to head to Las Vegas for a meeting with UFC President, Dana White, and Sena Shelby, a matchmaker. However, he suggested that the meeting would be less about business and more personal. He also mentioned that he is yet to receive official figures of his last fight’s pay-per-view performance, stating, “Maybe I’ll hear about that from the UFC… I haven’t heard any numbers get released.” Another interesting plot was the alleged screenshot post by McGregor announcing his matchup with Michael Chandler at UFC 296, which Dana White later confirmed to be fake.
O’Malley is keen to plot his future as a champion fighter, acknowledging the economic implications of sharing the headline with Conor McGregor. He admitted to still being out of training due to a rib injury he incurred before his victory over Sterling. To add to his woes, O’Malley has also been recently diagnosed with a turf foot after a kickboxing session gone wrong. After his round of meetings in Las Vegas, he is optimistic about laying out an exciting plan for his upcoming fights.