He isn't a star at all. The UFC have stacked his card to try and sell it over UFC 300.O'Malley has been a star for the UFC since before he started fighting top opponents. He could have fought those guys on the regionals but then the UFC wouldn't have made money off those fights.
Kris Moutinho was brought in as a short-notice replacement for Louis Smolka to keep O'Malley on a card but the other regional-level guys O'Malley fought were already on the roster.
I was laughing when Pyfer said this and laughed harder after watching his fight on Saturday.I listened to Pyfer on JRE and was really annoyed how he called a guy like Pereira basic and has huge holes etc. dude needed a humbling.