O’Malley Is A Bigger Name Than McGregor -‘Conor Has No More Of A Claim’
Sean O’Malley has been described as the biggest star in the UFC, overtaking Conor McGregor.
That is according to Chael Sonnen. Suga, the current UFC Bantamweight Champion, will defend his belt for the second time against Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306. The clash takes place on September 14 from The Sphere in Las Vegas. It is the first time a fight will occur in the arena at any point. The card has been tipped to set a UFC live gate record.
Meanwhile, McGregor was last seen fighting in 2021 when he lost to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264. He suffered a broken leg, which has kept him out of action since then. He was scheduled to fight Michael Chandler at UFC 303 on June 29. However, The Notorious pulled out with a broken toe. That keeps McGregor waiting on the sidelines.
O’Malley vs. McGregor
But he did show that he could still attract fans, as his presser with Chandler sold out in nine minutes. The UFC live gate record was also on course to be broken, a record McGregor already holds. His 2016 UFC 205 fight against Eddie Alvarez set the live gate record of $17.7 million. But things have moved on since then, with Sonnen feeling O’Malley is now a bigger star.
“O’Malley is the biggest star in our sport right now. And ‘Red Panty Night’ is still real. Conor’s not in the sport, he’s not even licensed. Conor could not walk in and fight tonight if he wanted to. I’m just sharing with you, who’s in the sport, it’s one of those things. Conor has no more of a claim to this sport right now than [Georges] St-Pierre or Khabib [Nurmagomedov]. In fact, St-Pierre and Khabib have attended more UFCs in the last year than Conor,” Sonnen said
However, O’Malley cannot overlook Dvalishvili. The latter has won ten fights in a row after losing his first two UFC bouts. He secured a win over Henry Cejudo at UFC 298 in his last fight. Merab attempted to get into O’Malley’s head during the build-up. He shared a video of himself getting stitches following a cut. That worried O’Malley, who felt Merab could pull out of the fight. Suga urged Usman Nurmagomedov to get ready in case of a withdrawal.
Merab’s Boxing
Dana White reacted by slamming Merab for the footage, as it could backfire on him if Suga targets the eye. Dvalishvili took things further by sharing a video of him removing the stitches. But even if O’Malley targets the eye, Merab has been working on his striking. The UFC fighter travelled to Mexico to work on his boxing. The clip shows Merab throwing various combinations as he adopts a Mexican style.
O’Malley is a precise striker, while Merab is known more for his ground game. Nine of Dvalishvili’s ten wins have come on the scorecards. O’Malley showed he could go the distance as he took Marlon Vera to the final bell. But just before the fight ended, Vera landed a strong body shot, which could have swayed things had there been more time in the fight. O’Malley must be on guard for all outcomes.
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