Sean O’Malley has championship gold on his mind after returning to the win column at UFC 324. However, the former bantamweight king doesn’t necessarily hold the same desire to be a champion as he once did.
O’Malley, 31, is still one of the best fighters on Earth, despite losing the title in September 2024. Since then, he’s been dealt a reality check. Not just regarding where he stands as a competitor, but financially.
Advertisement
Speaking on Monday’s edition of “The Ariel Helwani Show,” O’Malley explained why he hopes to be next in line for the current champion — his old foe — Petr Yan.
“Obviously, I want Petr Yan,” O’Malley told Uncrowned. “The thing is, if I would make more money fighting someone else, I’d want that. The amount of money I was making as the champion compared to not champion is significant. I was making a lot more money as the champion. That’s what I want next. I want Petr Yan next. I want the belt next. It makes it that much sweeter that it’s a rematch. It was a close fight before.
“If they go Merab [Dvalishvili versus] Petr, I wait. If Merab wins, we figure out what’s next. If Petr wins, I want that next.”
O’Malley knows his place after a full decade in the business. He’s still a prizefighter at the end of the day, so the fight that generates the most dollar signs is what he’s after, having already ascended to the mountain’s peak.
Advertisement
O’Malley noted that nothing has changed yet for him under the UFC’s new $7.7 billion deal with Paramount. “Sugar” helped launch the partnership this past Saturday in UFC 324’s co-main event, where he earned a unanimous decision over Song Yadong. However the former champ expects that to change as he irons out the details of a potential new contract for his next fight. With two more bout left on his current deal, O’Malley likes the direction the promotional incentives are heading.
“I feel like I’ll probably renegotiate before my next fight,” O’Malley said. “It would have been more regardless of Paramount buying UFC rights or whatever. … UFC is always taking care of me, they’ve been very good to me. I’m very grateful for the platform they give me, and moving over to Paramount, supposedly, there’s going to be more eyeballs. So, what’s that do for me? Makes the ‘Suga’ brand bigger, better, and I’m going to take advantage of that.
“But yes, I would definitely like to see the fighter pay get increased. I saw the bonuses got moved up, which is so crazy. These young guys now coming in — I have eight or nine bonuses, and damn, if that would have been $100,000 a bonus, it would have been sweet. These young guys are going to be able to start making money earlier. … $100,000 for a bonus is huge.”
In addition to the Performance and Fight of the Night bonuses increasing to $100,000, all fighters who score finishes will now receive a $25,000 bonus.
Advertisement
Despite missing out on either at UFC 324, O’Malley is simply happy to snap the first losing streak of his career. Consecutive losses to the now-former champion Dvalishvili left the striking sensation in bantamweight limbo — until Yan dethroned Dvalishvili this past December.
But now O’Malley is riding high with hopes of keeping his regained momentum alive.
“It feels good to win, but it feels way worse to lose. And it’s crazy how every time we step in there as fighters, the wins, they do feel really good, but the losses feel way worse. Man, if you can just end on a win, life’s good,” O’Malley said.
“I took winning for granted. It felt like I went my entire career — I won, won, won, won. Just kept winning. Even as an amateur, I just felt like I always won. Then that first ‘Chito’ [Marlon Vera] loss, I came out mentally undefeated, didn’t feel like I was coming off a loss at all. And so these coming off actual losses made winning [at UFC 324] feel that much better.”
