Interview: "Suga" Sean O'Malley predicts his knockout round in upcoming fight!

Published Sep 12, 2024, 10:00 AM

Stephen A. Smith is a New York Times Bestselling Author, Executive Producer, host of ESPN's First Take, and co-host of NBA Countdown. 

Stephen A. interviews UFC Bantamweight Champion “Suga” Sean O’Malley

My guest is the current UFC Bantamweight Champion of the World and number six in the UFC pound for pound rankings. He's got a historic match coming up Saturday night at the Sphere in Las Vegas on ESPN Plus. Please welcome the One, the Only Sugar Sean O'Malley. What's going on, big time?

How you doing? Man?

How's everything?

And he's going really good?

When you're this close to a fight, you're this healthy, It's just it's hard to believe it's true, but it is true.

It's happening. I feel good, I'm excited, ready to go. Now tell me this.

How the hell are you feeling so good and so healthy when you're training, You're putting yourself through the riggers and all of this other stuff just from a physical perspective, because you got a lot of folks out there. They getting the gym, they feel a little bit of pain, ain't in any kind of shape whatsoever, And the next thing you know, they're feeling worse than they did before. How do you feel better when you put your body through the riggers that you put yourself through to prepare yourself for championship matchups?

Our bodies adapted very well.

And it's been twelve weeks eating perfect, sleeping perfect, training very hard, but most importantly, training very smart. So you know, I'm a vet in this sport. I've been doing it for a long time and I've learned a lot. Each fight camp, I learned something new and I implement it into this fight camp. And I'm chasing greatness right now, so I have to mark all the boxes.

Got you? You know what you're gonna make history is the first person to fight at the sphere taking on a Rob give us Develis Villi. I believe that Develis vili Is. I think that's how you pronounce his name. All right, how did that happen? How did this fight happen?

Well, Marob's gonna can fight wind Streak.

He's ranked number one. He's been ranked number one for a very long time. Al Jamer Sterling was his training partner and best friend. So al jam was Sterling with the champ, and Uh, I had I had.

To mix that up.

I had to get in there, knock al Jamine Sterley out cold, drop a couple of hammer fist on his head. Uh. And then Rob wasn't next that going? And uh, take care of some business. Had to go Whoop Cheeto's acid Miami for a little bit, and now here we are. It's the fight that makes the most sense. The Sugar Show versus Mirob at the Sphere. It's going to be epic.

I want to know what your mentality. See, this is what I like about you as well. Yeah, you talk, but you back it up. That's all I give it. Damn about you back it up, you handle your business. But what I really like about you is that you never get the impression. And maybe sometimes we attribute it to Dana White and how he runs the UFC, and but I give you fighters credit. I love when I see champions not running from anybody, not procrastinating, not hesitating or anything like that. They've been talking about Mara for the longest time, and now over the last two years, to be specific about how he's that dude outside of you. How bad did you want this fight? How hard was it to happen?

The fight was very easy to happen. Morob's next. In UFC's eyes and everyone's eyes, Morob is the number one guy.

I love this fight. I actually was calling.

Out Eliot Taporia, who in my mind is the one forty five pound chef is the most one of those scary fights for me. Right now, I was calling out a guy that I thought was even more scary than Morob. So people are giving me shit saying, no, we want you to fight Morob. I was like, hell, yeah.

I will.

If you guys want me to fight some of what I think is less of a scary fight, I'll take that all day. So the fight was very easy to come together, and Rob's getting whooped in a few days.

When they talk about Morob, they talk about two things. Number one is wrestling ability. Number two, how his conditioning is just as at an elite level. The motor never stops turning, never stops moving. This guy's got energy all day, every day, et cetera, et cetera. And with you, they just say, you know, he's spectacular, he's a knockout artist, he's box office. But going up against a wrestler, any concern for you in that regard somebody that would prefer to grapple as opposed to stay there and try to engage in a striking contest against you.

I would prefer to fight someone who's skull and the only way to beat me is to take me down. That is going to be his downfall. That is how he's going to get knocked out. It doesn't matter how good is Cardio is when he's sleeping.

Just that simple, right, Just that simple. So let me ask you this, when you look at him as a fighter, what do you think of him? Break it down for those of us who don't know much about it, haven't seen much from him, break down his skill set and what you think he brings to the table, and why we should be excited about this fight considering the fact that he's going up against the magnificent Sugar Showan O'Malley.

I'll break down of the peards.

First, short, five to four, ugly, huge nose, just a weird head, very big head, very big nose, just a very ugly guy.

Skill set wise, very dangerous.

Like you mean, we mentioned it before, it is Cardio is well, it's crazy. He called him the machine for a reason. He's got very very good wrestling. He's good at wrestling in the punches back into wrestling, and.

That is what makes him dangerous. He's very durable.

There's been fights three he cliffs that comes back and just wins the round.

He's a very dangerous opponent.

And you know, the more dangerous the guy standing across from me, the better I perform.

I'm here for it.

You've avenged the lone loss in your career. He has four losses on his resume. When you've seen I'm imagining that you've seen his fights, particularly the fights that he's lost. What's his weaknesses? What are the kind of weaknesses that he has that you believe is going to be relatively easy for you to exploit.

I mean, yeah, like I said, it's a ten fight win streaks. So those losses were quite a while ago, years and years and years ago. But I believe if I am faster than the opponent, I will knock him out eventually.

I didn't. I didn't get a knockout in my last fight against Cito.

I hit him with some serious shots that did a lot of damage. I wasn't able to get him out of there. But I do believe I will get Morob out of there. I don't think he has the durability of Cheeto, and I'm gonna I'm gonna make sure I get him out of there. You know, I'm gonna do what I do and get it done too. I think I'm gonna get him out of there.

This isn't the first time I've interviewed you. Every time I've interviewed you, you remind me of your love for boxing and how you watch the sport. You know, a little thing you're doing think or two about the sport. Canilo Alvarez is going to be fighting Edgar Berlanga at the T Mobile Arena on the same night. Why should fans tune in or come to see you fight in Vegas instead of the great Canilo Alvaretz.

Edward Blaga, who I have never heard of that guy. To be honest, I don't I'd like it.

It's a friendly competition. It's across the street.

Canelo Alvarez, pound for pound, probably the best boxer in the world right now. I'm actually a massive fan. I've been throwing a little shade, but it's not you know, it's not personal. I'm a huge fan of Cadelo. But I mean, I just feel like it's a very I see on the boxers on Twitter saying that the UFC is foxed because the boxing is going on the same day.

I don't think that's the case.

I think UFC is going to get more views, and I promise you Sunday, Monday, Tuesday.

The rest of that week, they will be talking about the Sugar Show.

They will not be talking about the thirty six minute boxing match that went on at T Mobile. They'll be talking about how crazy the spear was, how mind blown it was.

You weren't there.

I cannot believe you missed it if you weren't actually at the event.

What Sugar did the morob was mind blowing. That's what they're gonna be talking about.

So when they call it now, they call you Sugar, Why do you love that name so much? Because I never asked you that question. If you have to answer, you've told somebody else to answer. I apologize. I've never seen the answer you gave to being called sugar and why you loved that so much? Tell me why?

Yeah.

Johnny Aho, one of my first coaches back in Helena, Montana, where I was born and raised.

He gave it to me because I was so sweet to watch fight. He started calling me sugar. Sugar. Got you shoot you back it up, that's for sure.

Sugar. Shane Mosley, Sugar, Ray Lennard, Sugar, Ray Robinson. Now Sugar showan O'Malley. I love it. I love the comparisons as well. You beat Morob what does that mean for you moving forward? Who would be next on your list?

I mean I got options to Eliot's Porria fight.

He's got to fight Max Holloway in October with Jabiti, which is one of the most exciting fights in my opinion.

I'm looking forward to that fight a lot.

That's a possibility. Get met off you and Brad Lumar. He's a possibility. Davis and Figuredo. He moved up from Flyway to Bantaway. He is on three fight win streak. That's a possibility. I like to have options.

I might.

You know, people hate when I bring up boxing. I don't know if we're there yet, and I'm okay with that. If I need to go and knock out two, three or more guys to get a boxing fight, I'm okay with that. I'll keep doing what I do. But boxing's never out of the picture.

What boxing match do you want?

I wouldn't mind. Givanta Davis is just so little, you know. I like my matchup with the same weight class. I like that matchup. That'd be one I could pick. If I had to pick Prairie him and.

You think you'd beaton Davis.

I believe I could beat Gervonta Davis.

They do call him take you know, I mean the brother puts people to sleep. You know that, right? He does what you do. He does what you do, Sean.

That's what makes it interesting. I am you know, I'm a fan of still is very very dangerous.

I'm not denying that. I'm again, I'm chasing greatness. I want.

I believe I could transfer over to boxing very well. Give me six months, give me a real legitimate boxing camp, and I'm very dangerous with both hands left right south for orthodox I believe I can get that job done too.

When you think.

About the UFC and the state of affairs that exists, one could easily argue that you're one of, if not the most popular UFC fighter in the business at this particular moment in time. Your goal is to win, keep winning, to be a champion. But it doesn't stop there. When we think about somebody that's box office, obviously, the name Connor McGregor has come up over the years, even though he hasn't forty years and he certainly hasn't won, and even in the longer the period of time now we see him acting in Hollywood movies and things of that nature. You look at that and what transpired with Conor McGregor, what do you learn, What do you peel from the experiences you saw him witness in terms of your elevation within the UFC, and what you continue what you need to continue to do outside of winning, of course.

Yeah, Connor's I've learned so much from Connor inside and outside the octagon. Inside the octagon, his presence is calmness is you know. I've learned a lot from Connor inside the oct one. Outside the octagon, I've learned a lot too. He's got to be careful with how much drugs you do and uh, you know, keep trying to keep your head on straight. I've learned a lot from uh, from watching his downfall. He's been throwing shot shots at me from pure jealousy from my perspective. So yeah, I think Connor the loose cannon right now, and hope he gets help.

What kind of shots has he been throwing at you? And why would he feel the need to throw shots at you?

What? What's that about? I mean that would be a good question for him. I don't know.

There's you know, I've been little tweets here and there, just you know, pecking and stabbing have me. But I do see it from a jealousy perspective. I really don't know where else it would come from. And people are well Connor with jealous of you because I'm the champ. I defended the belt, so he's never done. I'm fighting. This will be the biggest box off, this will be the biggest gate of all time UFC history. I am coming for Connor's records. I'm current, I'm fighting continue like I'm active. I'm what he used to be and what he wants to be still, So you know, I don't It was kind of random. I never said anything negative about Connor until you start throwing shot. So right now it's fuck Connor?

Are you?

Are you of the mindset that as your popularity grows, the UFC would need him less and less and less, And that might be the pro the provocation behind him coming at.

You like that. Uh that that would be a good guess, I do think.

I mean, Connors can come back and fight Michael Chandler and do massive numbers, massive pay per view.

He's still that guy, but for how long?

And then there's you? There's you before I let you get on out of here. Man, I'm gonna ask you another boxing questions somewhat anyway, because I get on Jake Paul. I like Jake Paul a lot, but I want him to fight fighters, like boxers as a poet to just UFC guys because he's in the box and profession. Yeah, he's fighting a box of this time, but somebody twice his age of Mike Tyson. What do you think about that fight coming up down the road.

Yeah, I've been a huge fan of what Jake's done from watching him fight Nate Robinson ben Askin. I enjoyed that crossover from YouTuber influencer into the boxing world. I've listened to his story. I've heard how him talk about boxing really truly changed his life, and I agree.

I fit that.

I don't know what I would be doing without fighting, So I get that on that kind of a level, and I enjoy what he's doing. I enjoy massive fights him versus Mike Tyson is it's hard. It's like a kind of hard for your heart because you just don't want to see Mike Tyson get hurt. And That's where I'm at right now. You know, I love the big fights. I watch every single Jake Paul fight. Good entertainment.

Him versus n A. Diaz was electric.

I you know, it gives me that Connor McGregor vibes, the feeling of like a big fight. Those fights give me like that. So, but the Mike Tyson wasn't you know, same thing.

I'm gonna be. I'm gonna I'll probably be there. I'll watch it like the rest of the world.

But I you know, it's it's a thing where it's I like watching Jake Pult knock people out, but it's also it's Mike Tyson. You know, he's a little bit older, and uh so it's like, uh, you know, it's a triggy one.

Well, the last question for I let you get on out of here. You're part of the new Prize Picks Run Your Game campaign with Juiceki and Joe Budden that dropped ahead of the NFL season. Is it true you're obsessed with football? And if so, who's your team?

So?

Growing up, I was the most My first dream, my first love was the NFL. I thought I was gonna be in the NFL until I realized I'm you know, not big enough to be in the NFL. So that's when I kind of switched over to fighting. But I'm getting back into the NFL and it it feels good. I went and played catch with Kyler Murray, you know, hun up with Marvin Harrison Jr. Caught some passes. That was incredible experience. But I'm back and uh yeah, and I'm loving on prize picks.

By the way, let me transition to this. You co host the Tim Bow Sugar Show on YouTube with your head coach, Tim Welch. For those who are familiar with it, tell us about that, do y'all talk about?

Yeah?

Tim and I have been running this podcast for six years. Run up every Sunday. We shoot a podcast, very very consistent. A lot of podcasts start hit about seven or eight and it starts to fall off. We've been doing it six coming out seven years, over three hundred episodes. We talk mostly fights, but we also talk about, you know a lot of healthy stuff, you know, sleeping, good, eating, good hydrating, moving your body, staying consistent with working out. Just kind of an overall healthy lifestyle podcast. We're also a little bit.

Of dark humor. It's definitely not for everyone.

We can make people uncomfortable for sure, but yeah, a little bit of everything.

I'm scared to ask you this last question, but I have to. I just have to because I'm too damn curious. You have an adult beverage company called Happy Day?

Is that true? What?

What are you? What is that about? What is that about?

Rolling Happy? That is absolutely crushing it?

Yeah, hart Seltzer, if you haven't heard of it, you gotta go try it?

All right, man, Well, listen, handle your business. Prediction for Saturday night's fight? What are you predicting?

Rob will go down in two?

Is what I'm predicting in two and two? Indeed, Yeah, I think I'm gonna find his chin early. I'm going to find his chin often, and he is not going to be able to handle it.

And if he does, it's gonna be an ass whooping sugar.

Sean O'Malley, the Banta Way Champion of the World in UFC, thanks a lot for being on the Steven A.

Smith Show.

My man, good luck, all right, good luck this week and you take it easier right?

Hell yeah? Good talking. Peace