Sean O’Malley needs to prove he isn’t a glass cannon before he’ll get truly appreciated

[Young Calf Kick]

Hardcore and casual fans both will tolerate a fighter being brash, confident or even having rainbow coloured hairstyles if the fighter can prove he’s able to handle adversity.

McGregor gained a lot of fans for this with the Mendes fight. Sure Mendes was on after two weeks notice and you could argue it wasn’t that impressive for McGregor to win, but casuals don’t remember that anyway.

But O’Malley hasn’t passed that test yet and even worse, he’s looked bad when presented with adversity. Chito made easy work of him and the mentally undefeated shtick is just silly.

Also, the dude looks very focused and sharp in there, but every single time his legs get kicked he winces. That’s not good. Chito kicking his legs and O’Malley having such a strong reaction to it makes people doubt his heart, which together with aesthetics is what MMA fans in general appreciate most.

I think most people will forgive him for being a brash but silly rainbow haired boy as soon as he proves he can handle adversity. He’ll get protected a little bit just like Conor was. But eventually he’ll face some top dogs and he’ll get to prove he’s if he’s as gritty as he is talented offensively.

If he manages to do so, everyone will be on his side.

 

[User4908]

He needs to fight someone remotely relevant but the UFC doesn’t have much confidence in him after the Chito Vera debacle… not to mention he’s looked absolutely clueless on the mat the times he’s been on his back.


I personally don’t think he’s even a mediocre fighter at this point. I’d like to see him matched up with someone like Barcelos or Grant to see where he’s at.

 

[MigitAs]

He’s gonna be a sore old man taking all these injuries after his fights, I guess that’s most fighters tho.

 

[Benoitthegr8]

 

[ZaphMMA]

Suga Sean is the UFC's answer to Bellator's MVP.

But at least he's entertaining to watch.

 

[Gnome Chumpsky]

I don't even find him that overly cocky or brash. He just seems like a goof to me

 

[MikeChandler]

 

[Terrestrial Extra]

Blame the UFC, not him. They need to offer him a legit opponent and stop giving him cans to protect him. It's time... Either he's a star or not... They don't need to give him the MVP treatment any longer and unlike MVP, I doubt he wants to fight cans and pretend they are legit competition.

He is a legit striker and fun to watch but his ground game and durability are still huge question marks(well his durability has kind of been revealed to be... not so good).

Because of his confidence and brash cocky(sort of) attitude... people(by which I mean hardcore fans, casuals don't care or even know he's beating bums) are going to be put off until he beats legit opponents... then I can see more hardcore fans jumping on his bandwagon.

I'm a fan but it's not hard to see why he's disliked around here. Same reason MVP gets so much shit... The difference between the two tho is that Sean actually wants to face top competition while MVP from all the interviews i've seen only "wanted" the Lima rematch and really tries to say that all the cans he's been crushing recently were legit and quality fighters and he just simply made it look easy. I mean... He did put on a show mostly but decisioning guys like Houston all because he shot for a takedown or two was not a good look.

I can see Sean doing better than most people think against the top 15... but I have grave doubts about him becoming a champion until he proves his body won't quit on him and that his ground game have improved.

 

[MeagoR]

Thats the stupidiest shit ever. Why would someone get hit on surpose to prove he can take a shot and weaken his chin with ever shot. When could just duck and slip punches.

 

[krelianx]

What the fuck is this "protected talk"? He was supposed to fight Smolka, then they were trying to to find a replacement with Ricky Simon who couldn't make weight, and God knows who else.

Smolka is a strong kicker and tough sob.

 

[Espresso]

One word

Titanium

We have all witnessed how Titanium Conor is about to dominate

 

[Slatersan]

He has good striking, reach, and power. He looks like he has trash cardio, bad grappling, injury prone, and can’t handle pressure well.

These lower ranked guys might be what he needs to build up. It’s funny when people get rushed to the belt people complain. When people get built up slowly people complain.

 

[FIghtxIQ]

What the fuck is this "protected talk"? He was supposed to fight Smolka, then they were trying to to find a replacement with Ricky Simon who couldn't make weight, and God knows who else.

Smolka is a strong kicker and tough sob.

Because of who they chose for him to fight. That says everything you need to know about their confidence in O'Malley. They couldn't even pick an actual UFC fighter for him to fight and he still had a hard time in a fight that was supposed to be a highlight reel finish for him to appeal to the casual fan base.

 

[krelianx]

Because of who they chose for him to fight. That says everything you need to know about their confidence in O'Malley. They couldn't even pick an actual UFC fighter for him to fight and he still had a hard time in a fight that was supposed to be a highlight reel finish for him to appeal to the casual fan base.

What are you talking about, Moutinho was a late replacement. He was supposed to fight Smolka and they were trying to get Simon, who refused because he couldn't make weight.

You can distort the narrative to make it seem as if they intended him to fight Moutinho from the start, but that is not what happened.

 

[STRYDG]

Give him Font, that would be hilarious

 

[Huligani]

I'd say put him against Aldo if Aldo wasn't already booked and still used leg kicks. So really I want the Rob Font match.

 

[Jinx_AA]

Onmalley is certainly a glass Cannon

His striking is legit ,so he can beat some top guys in beauty fashion .

But his cardio ,defense , chin and will are all crap , which puts himself in danger of being embarrassingly finished by anyone ....hell take a bad loss again soon ...

 

[ZaphMMA]

They need to offer him a legit opponent and stop giving him cans to protect him.

The UFC doesn't "need" or "have to" do anything. They could actually give him cans for the rest of his career if they think it's profitable.

On the average card, casuals can't pick out a can anyway, and casuals are where the money is, not hardcores on forums who think they are special by demanding someone fight a ranked opponent.

 

[ironfist05]

IDK about his chin or anything but I just don't see a dude whose legs are that visibly unstable being champion or even getting to the otp 5, which is absolutely stacked at the moment.

 

[Guffman]

Suga Sean is the UFC's answer to Bellator's MVP.

But at least he's entertaining to watch.

I think I've seen every one of MVP's Bellator fights, and I don't remember him ever incurring a significant injury. But other than that, I agree with the comparison.