UFC 269: Dana White admits ‘we need to pay’ Sean O’Malley, who insists he’s in the ‘fight business – not the fight game’
- UFC president lauds American bantamweight star’s ‘spectacular’ first-round knockout in Las Vegas
- O’Malley expects March or April return, and White says ‘we need to get him some fights’ against ‘higher-level competition’
Sean O’Malley may be about to get the step up in competition – and fighter pay – that he feels he deserves.
The 27-year-old American bantamweight (15-1) added another highlight to his reel with a first-round TKO of Raulian Paiva (21-4) on Saturday night’s UFC 269 main card in Las Vegas.
“Sugar” is now tied for the second-most knockouts (5) in the division in UFC history, just two behind former champion TJ Dillashaw (7) – or one, as he sees it.
“Well, I knocked out Thomas [Almeida] twice, so my record is six,” he said. “Yeah, it’s pretty crazy because I’ve still got 15 or 20 fights left in my career, something around there.”
UFC president Dana White was hugely impressed with what he saw from O’Malley, to say the least.
“The guy he beat tonight is a very real guy,” White told reports at the post-event press conference backstage at T-Mobile Arena.