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Fans gave mixed reactions as Chael Sonnen labelled Sean O'Malley the "biggest star" of MMA. At the recent UFC 316 event, O'Malley experienced his second consecutive defeat in the bantamweight title fight rematch against champion Merab Dvalishvili.
The loss is likely to halt O'Malley's title prospects in the foreseeable future, and many have speculated whether a move to featherweight would be beneficial for the former 135-pound champion.
While discussing the situation in the recent episode of the Good Guy / Bad Guy podcast, Sonnen reiterated his stance that O'Malley is the sport's biggest star, stating:
“I think we should let this simmer, let him take his oars out of the water. He's very sad. He’s the sport’s biggest star and he doesn’t have a world championship. Behind him is Alex Pereira, who has the same thing in common. And that path back requires some strategy, but it also requires a little bit of patience.”
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Check out Chael Sonnen's comments below (22:47):
@HappyPunch re-posted Sonnen's statement on X, and fans flooded the comments section to share their thoughts on his opinion. Many fans disagreed with the assessment that O'Malley's star power is comparable to that of Alex Pereira, while others seemed to believe it.
One fan commented:
"Stupid talk."
Another fan wrote:
"Chael is a crazy uncle who just says things."
Check out more fan reactions below:
Chael Sonnen's advice to Sean O'Malley: "Stay the course"
After losing the title to Merab Dvalishvili at Noche UFC 306, Sean O'Malley made several lifestyle changes to improve his focus on MMA. While he displayed better takedown defence and had more success in striking in the UFC 316 rematch, Dvalishvili also showed improvements and finished him with a third-round submission.
In the aforementioned episode of the Good Guy / Bad Guy podcast, Chael Sonnen said that he has communicated with O'Malley consistently since his UFC 316 defeat. Revealing the conversations, Sonnen said:
"I have had to remind him, 'Sean, you got better. You and your coaches went in, you watched the tape. You lived a new life, you got disciplined and prepared.' And it worked. He showed up better." [20:15]
Highlighting the positive aspects of O'Malley's performance in the rematch, Sonnen stated:
"Sean went out there and fought great. He stopped those takedowns, he was finding the straights up the middle, he was starting to find that body with the tip... Everything he set out to do, he was doing. He got caught in a nasty position... There's no way, if you're O'Malley, you should be too down. 'Did I do better than I did last time?' As long as the answer keeps being yes, you stay the course." [20:45]
While the future course of action for O'Malley is not known at this point, Dvalishvili is likely to defend his title against Cory Sandhagen next.
