UFC News: Sean O'Malley Doesn't Care What Weight He Competes In: 'I'm Bigger Than The Belt'
Sean O'Malley kept calm and chill after avenging his loss to Marlon Vera in a decision victory at Saturday night's UFC 299 main event in Miami, Fla.
O'Malley, who took the bantamweight title from Aljamain Sterling less than a year ago at UFC 292, discussed his UFC future, even beyond 135 pounds.
He said he intends to become one of the sport's all-time greats.
"I don't know," O'Malley told reporters at his post-fight scrum about what's next. "We'll go with the flow. "If it happens, I feel I could move up to '45. I feel like I'm gonna get to a point where I don't even need the belt. I'm bigger than the belt. Having the belt, I'm gonna fight [a] main event at f****** 140, 142, just for f****** fun."
O'Malley said he doesn't value the title as much as his opponents and the long-term star power goals he faces.
"The belt’s cool, but once you get to a certain point you can main event and just kinda fight," O'Malley added. Look, Conor [McGregor] was [145] pound champ fighting at 170 fighting Nate. I wanna get there.”
O'Malley joined the UFC in 2017 after a successful DWCS appearance and has been nearly flawless. His biggest win on the road to a UFC title shot was arguably former champion Petr Yan, whom he beat in a closely contested decision at UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi.
Only time will tell what O'Malley's future holds. But for now, the 'Suga' era has just begun at bantamweight.
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