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Israel Adesanya has lauded Sean O’Malley for his career strategy of fighting lower-ranked opponents before gradually facing tougher opposition in the UFC. O’Malley has consistently maintained that he’d face lower-tier opponents rather than fighting elite UFC fighters unless the UFC pays him well enough to face the elite in the division.
In a video on Israel Adesanya’s FREESTYLEBENDER YouTube channel, both him and UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski praised ‘Sugar’ for his strategy.
‘The Great’ suggested that while O’Malley is criticized by some, he’s right to do what benefits him. Furthermore, both Volkanovski and ‘Izzy’ agreed that his next opponent, Pedro Munhoz, is a step-up in competition for him. Adesanya stated on the video:
“Munhoz is not an easy fight. But when you’re doing that, when you’re fighting these lower-ranked guys, what you’re doing really is getting experience in the UFC. You’re getting experience. Yeah, so, eight fights in the UFC as an official UFC fighter, that gets you an experience that’s invaluable.”
He also added about picking fights:
“Because he [O’Malley], I think he was pretty green when he jumped in the UFC. I kind of did the same thing low-key with my fights in the UFC on the way up. I was picking and choosing. So, I’ve picked and chosen. And I don’t pick easy fights. I pick and choose the harder guys.”
'Izzy' reiterated that the Munhoz matchup “is a good step-up for Sean.” He also noted that O’Malley has set himself up to compete on a high-profile fight card, during the UFC’s International Fight Week against a veteran of the MMA game. Furthermore, Adesanya and Volkanovski both foresee O’Malley defeating Munhoz.
Check out Adesanya’s comments at 11:18 in the video below:
"It's hard to hate on Izzy" - Sean O’Malley Israel Adesanya for being an active champion
The No.13-ranked UFC bantamweight contender Sean O’Malley is set to face the No.10-ranked Pedro Munhoz at UFC 276 on July 2. The UFC 276 fight card will be headlined by UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, who’ll defend his belt against Jared Cannonier.
On The BrOMalley Show, Sean O’Malley’s brother Daniel O’Malley recently insinuated that there isn’t much excitement surrounding the matchup, as Adesanya is purportedly a “boring fighter.”
This is apparently due to Israel Adesanya’s recent fights going the distance rather than him finishing opponents as he previously used to do. Regardless, Sean O’Malley disagreed with his brother. Expressing his respect for Adesanya, a champion who competes as frequently as possible, ‘Sugar’ said:
"It's hard to hate on Izzy, dude. Being as active as he is, defending the belt as much as he [does]. [He] went up, tried to do that. It's hard to hate on Izzy."
