The guy is trying to get paid. He would like the crowd to love him. But he’s just not everybody’s cup of tea.
This talk of a FW TS is ridiculous, and even Dana isn’t on board with that. It’s Merab next. And that will be a really legit test of his skills against that style of Merab’s. If he wins that would be great for his legacy. Losing would of course put a screeching halt to the O’Malley hype train. It’s those kinds of fights that determine if you can actually draw. And whether you can beat all comers. You can become a bigger star in fights like that. Bigger as in you can sell more ppv than the average champ. And more into being a certified draw. Those people get paid well by the UFC, which is his goal.
But he’s not really skilled enough on the mic. He’s very generic, if not awkward in his personality. I suspect that’s why every part of his physical appearance screams.. Look at me. He stands out for sure. But once he opens his mouth, he just doesn’t have it. And at the pre-presser he was all.. I’m going to knock this fucker out. Not so, apparently.
But just shut up about FW, and fight the next guy in line. That’s my biggest complaint about him. He got his freebie defence, and avenged the loss. Good for him. Take a couple months off to heal. Then get back in the gym. And then just ask when is the Merab fight?
It actually seems like the live crowd might always be 50/50 for O’Malley, and his opponent in fights on neutral ground. If they had O’Malley vs Merab in an area with a lot of Mexican people. Merab would own the crowd. But Merab may be popular in a lot of places these days?
There were many popular, JBG fighters on that 299 card. They had a huge live gate. And it probably sold very well on ppv. But to attribute the numbers strictly to O’Malley would be rubbish. Dustin is/was probably the biggest draw on that card, right now. All he’s done is ME ppv for years. A perfect Co-main, and main card to sell O’Malley as the ME.
The next fight is O’Malley’s make or break moment, imo. If he beats Merab he just might be able to defend a few times? But with Sandhagen vs Umar. That’s gotta be a number 1 contender fight, imo. So no matter how you look at it. O’Malley has two very tough fights in a row coming up. If he fights, and beats the next guy in line.
His personality isn’t enough to grow his fanbase if he loses the belt to Merab. Instead of being the king of the mountain. He becomes a very skilled, try hard, ex-champ that cherry picked his first defence. And nobody ever really believed he would defend enough times to catch Aljo. Let alone Cruz, anyway.
Afterall.. 37% picked Chito to beat O’Malley in the pbp poll.
And if he loses 2 in a row. He’ll probably never recover that lost hype. He’s just not really interesting enough to be really popular with anybody unless he’s winning. And that act is too cringey unless you’re winning. Defend at least twice per year, or vacate. That’s the thing I care most about with any champ.