How Can Anyone Believe O'Malley Will Ever Contend for the Belt?

[NoSmilez]

He isn't better than the all time greats in that division but people age out all the time in a division. Who thought Do Bronx will win the title when Pettis/RDA had it?

 

[FIghtxIQ]

1) He actually pretty good. A lot of people here are too blinded by hate to see that the man actually has skills

2) He’s going receive favorable matchmaking on his way to the belt; The UFC is going to do everything in their power to stack the odds on Sean’s favor

3) There is a pretty good chance that he is going to get to skip the line:; Don’t be surprised if Sean gets booked against a highly ranked opponent before earning it

No one is doubting his skills, they doubt his durability. Skills means nothing if you aren't durable enough and start breaking once you start taking damage. You are going to have to take damage vs fighters at the top, there's no way around that.

 

[KantoTerror]

O'Malley is better than his critics allow, but has proven far less than his fans admit.

that aside, pit him against Aldo to test his legs...then Frankie to test his ground game...

 

[kekiss]

Maybe he will improve over time, but i find it hard to imagine him cracking top 5, he is flashy striker with ok 1-2 and decent timing, but not much power, also 0 ground game and is pretty fragile being like 26 years old, thats close to prime years, so he better be putting some work , instead of hanging out with clown rappers. I see him being UFC version of MVP, fighting cans and washed up dudes, maintaining his popularity on social media.

 

[Venom]

A goofy smack talking white guy= He’s one of the guys the UFC desperately wants as champ. They’ll find a way to get him in contention… look out for O’Malley vs Moutinho 2 for a title eliminator

stop trolling lolll

 

[Post 2 Decision]

UFC will keep feeding him cans, battle-worn vets, and favourable matchups until he gets a big win streak and then tell everyone that he deserves a title shot.

Don't believe the hype.

 

[sdpdude9]

He clearly has some skills on the feet. Hasn’t been tested much on the mat though. But right now, guy really hasn’t proven his skills stand up to the best in the division and failed in his only step up. He hasn’t done anything to prove a threat to the top of the division at this point.

 

[JosephTessaro]

Forget his abysmal performance against that punching bag. Vera kicks O'Malley's leg once and knocks him out. Vera then goes on to get tooled on by Aldo, who was previously dominated by Petr Yan. This guy will never survive as a ranked fighter in the UFC and probably not anywhere else.

Abysmal? He beat the shit out of that kid for 3 rounds. What was so bad, he didn't get the finish?

Anything is possible...it's MMA, and MMAth doesn't really work.

 

[maximus__]

Forget his abysmal performance against that punching bag. Vera kicks O'Malley's leg once and knocks him out. Vera then goes on to get tooled on by Aldo, who was previously dominated by Petr Yan. This guy will never survive as a ranked fighter in the UFC and probably not anywhere else.

Don't get me wrong Aldo won under the scoring but Vera had his back taken and still out struck Aldo. Vera put out more offence in the short time it was on the feet and made Aldo lay and pray him from the back. Vera was never in danger and put out more offence with his back taken than Aldo did at any point. Aldo literally just held on and did nothing, he made no attempt to finish the choke at any point. Vera had him hiding his head and holding on for the win. 5 round fight and Vera wins that. I also favour him in the rematch. Petr Yan also had issues early with Aldo, he always does well in 3 round fights. Yan took him out late.

 

[maximus__]

Abysmal? He beat the shit out of that kid for 3 rounds. What was so bad, he didn't get the finish?

Anything is possible...it's MMA, and MMAth doesn't really work.

The fact that he had no other plan once he couldn't get the KO and has the longer suspension of the two isn't a good sign. I think O'malley will lose in any 5 rounder with a durable person. It's MMA, why not mix in some grappling and show us your ground game when you can't finish someone on the feet?

 

[jeskola]

Forget his abysmal performance against that punching bag. Vera kicks O'Malley's leg once and knocks him out. Vera then goes on to get tooled on by Aldo, who was previously dominated by Petr Yan. This guy will never survive as a ranked fighter in the UFC and probably not anywhere else.

 

[AmericanUppercut]

He has to be durable enough to handle the heat vs fighters at the top of the division. Look at the recent TJ vs Sandhagen fight. Do you think O'Malley has that kind of durability? Compare that performance vs his performance vs Kris.

I agree with your point.
He does not seem very durable.
but
1)
he is a decent striker (also longer than most)
in a strike heavy division.

To answer the TS -
2)
People(not me per se) believe he can challenge because he is winning fights.
These are my only 2 points.

 

[capnlarge]

He's a skilled fighter and has corporate backing. He's going to get every opportunity to succeed in the UFC

Prepare for a future thread about O'Malley's "undeserved" title shot

 

[Tweak896]

Aldo vs Omalley would be hilarious to discuss here on sherdog. You know it would be a shit storm here.

 

[15089371]

This is the mma, it's really not that far fetched at all. I don't like him but he is very skilled, and at 26 he is only just entering his prime and will also start having real fights now. He definitely needs to do some maturing but he has the time to do that, and if he just keeps going it's hard not see him close at the top in 2-3 years.

Also Vera didn't get "tooled". Aldo won a clear decision, but he had to keep him down to get through that.

 

[Deathbycalfkick]

If WME and the UFC want it to happen it's gonna happen. This is sports entertainment people, barely more legit than pro-wrasslin.

 

[RogerB08]

Maybe he'll go on to be champ; but more likely he'll wind up on the ever growing list of guys were supposed to the next big thing.

 

[Kono dio da!]

A goofy smack talking white guy= He’s one of the guys the UFC desperately wants as champ. They’ll find a way to get him in contention… look out for O’Malley vs Moutinho 2 for a title eliminator

ufc loves their trash-talking white males.

 

[jeff7b9]

O'Malley is better than his critics allow, but has proven far less than his fans admit.

His ceiling is still very much unestablished.

He could be very successful or he could fall short, we don't know yet.

Extreme opinions on either end are almost certainly about bias more than an accurate assessment of his skills.

 

[TempleoftheDog]

Who ever claimed he would? But if there’s an outfit crooked enough to make it happen, it’s the UFC.