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Anthony Smith believes Sean O'Malley should make one more octagon appearance before fighting for UFC gold.
According to 'Lionheart', O'Malley still requires a bit more experience. Smith said that if he were O'Malley's manager, he would set the bantamweight up for another showdown with a high-level fighter in order to fully prepare him for a title fight. Smith discussed the matter during the latest episode of the 'Believe You Me' podcast and mentioned Cory Sandhagen as a possible opponent:
"I think you gotta give O'Malley another one. Not for any other reason than he's still pretty green up there at the top... Give him someone like Sandhagen and really continue to test himself because if you're gonna lose at the top of the division, you'd rather it wasn't in a title fight... If I'm his manager, I'm gonna put Sean O'Malley in another really, really tough fight that maybe he shouldn't win... and if he does lose, that still gives you time to fix those mistakes and those problems and then go back and get yourself to a title fight."
You can watch the full episode of the podcast below:
Sandhagen recently competed in September and took on Song Yadong in a five-round main event fight. 'The Sandman' earned a TKO victory at the end of the fourth round as the fight was halted due to doctor stoppage.
John McCarthy weighs in on Sean O'Malley possibly fighting Aljamain Sterling next
John McCarthy's thoughts are similar to that of Anthony Smith's in regards to Sean O'Malley's next fight. In the latest episode of 'Weighing In', McCarthy stated that despite earning a victory at UFC 280, 'Sugar' is not yet ready to go toe-to-toe with bantamweight king Aljamain Sterling:
"I dont think he's ready for Aljamain Sterling yet though. I don't think that's a smart fight for him to take at this time... If I'm Dana White, I'd make the fight, but if I'm Sean, I want another fight first."
O'Malley recently took a huge step up in competition against Petr Yan at UFC 280. The fight was a razor-close affair that ended with a split decision victory for 'Sugar'.
The contest was also declared the 'Fight of the Night' and both fighters received an additional cheque of $50,000.
