Seon O’Malley is looking to follow Conor McGregor’s footsteps in his quest to achieve mixed martial arts greatness.
Returning from a two-year hiatus, the 25-year old fighter picked up from where he left off and eked out an impressive first round technical knockout of Jose Quinonez at UFC 248 to secure his third straight victory and the Performance of the Night honor.
Despite his long absence, which also cost him big opportunities, the bantamweight star said his hype train was not derailed though he felt like it was his first fight in the UFC again.
“I don’t think I really lost any hype going into that fight,” O’Malley said in an interview with MMA Fighting.
“It was exciting. I think people feel that certain way when I fight, and I’m excited to get back in there and make them feel that again. It’s powerful.”
“I enjoy that. It’s cool to be able to get such a big following, so many eyes to watch me fight from being in the UFC. It’s a sweet life.”
Healthy
Back in his full shape, ‘Sugar’ plans to come back this summer and has already sets his sights on fighting in the cage in the next ten years.
“I’m healthy – I obviously love to fight,” he continued.
“We’re going to go back to the drawing board. I’d like International Fight Week, but it does feel like it would be a little bit too far out.”
“I don’t know if I really want to wait that long. I know there’s a card in San Diego. I think that’s like eight weeks. That could be a potential date.”
“As far as right now, I don’t know. We’re going to let it die down for a little bit and then pick back up in a week and figure it out.”
“I’m 25 – I’d like to fight until I’m 35 or 36.”
Making Money
With a huge fan-following, O’Malley wants to take a page out of McGregor’s playbook when it comes to establishing a ‘smart career.’
“I’m extremely healthy and I could maintain that for that long.”
“Once you start fighting the best guys in the world, you’re going to fight nothing but the best guys in the world. So I’m going to take it fight by fight, take it slow.”
“I’m 3-0 in the UFC, and it’s hard to do that when you feel like you could knock out these top dudes in the world.”
“I feel like my skill level’s there, my mindset’s there and everything’s there, but it’s a balance. Trying to make this a smart career.”
“Conor [McGregor’s] career, they did pretty well with as far as building him up.”
“It’s a business. It’s a career. You can only fight for so long. You’ve got to make as much money as you possibly can. So we’re going to look at it like a business and go from there.”
Is Sean O’Malley the next big star in the UFC?
(Featured Image Source: Instagram/ Conor McGregor and YouTube/ MMA Junkie)