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Sean O'Malley is one of the most popular bantamweights in the UFC today. 'Sugar', who is known for his flashy persona and unconventional antics, often comes across as a polarizing figure. However, there is another side to the 27-year-old.
Sean O'Malley seemingly loves to give back to those in need and has made various donations to people less fortunate than himself. MMA analyst Brett Okamoto once shared a story about O'Malley using all of his Reebok sponsorship money to buy shoes for children in need.
Here's what Okamoto said in a series of tweets:
"Quick story to share about Sean O'Malley, the kind of thing that didn’t make my written story on him or the video feature we did ... but wanted to put it out. When I was in Arizona to see him, I was in his garage and noticed an entire shelf filled with boxes of Reebok shoes, but... They were all kids sizes. I asked him, 'Why do you have dozens of kids shoes?' Sean O’Malley told me when Reebok signed a sponsorship deal with him, they gave him $10k to spend on whatever he wanted. He spent it all on kids shoes, and has been slowly giving them away to kids in need and... Charities over the years. Sometimes you get little stories like this that don’t fit in traditional fight coverage but I thought this one was worth sharing."
Sean O'Malley’s popularity soared after his spectacular win on Dana White’s Contender Series back in July 2017. The result earned him a contract with the UFC.
The star entered the UFC’s bantamweight rankings at No.12 by dispatching Raulian Paiva in the first round of their bout at UFC 269. With his win over the Brazilian, Sean O'Malley also collected his third consecutive knockout in the promotion. The impressive win marked his fifth KO in the UFC.
Kevin Lee is jealous of Sean O'Malley
Kevin Lee was released from the UFC towards the end of 2021. During an appearance on The Schmozone podcast, 'The Motown Phenom' suggested he could have been a bigger star like Sean O'Malley had he taken a similar route to 'Sugar'.
Lee also praised Sean O'Malley for picking the right fights early in his UFC career.
“I’ve got to tip my hat to Sean O'Malley. He knows how to come up. He did it the right way. Honestly, I wish I would have took a couple of pages or two out of his book and had that ability to kind of pick and choose my fights and put on great performances like that. He’s doing it the right way. I’m not mad at him for it. I’m a little jealous."
Watch Kevin Lee talk about getting inspired by Sean O'Malley below:
