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Sean O'Malley sees himself emulating Israel Adesanya on his way to UFC stardom.
Although he is in the early stages of his career, O'Malley has all the makings of a UFC superstar. As he climbs up the rankings, the rising bantamweight wants to be able to trust his skillset enough to be confident of a victory going into every fight. However, he is also aware that he could be on the receiving end of a fatal shot at any point. The 27-year-old recently told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour:
"It's definitely a tough sport, it's a scary sport. You know, I see my path going similar to Izzy. Israel, well he is just such a smart fighter, so good on the outside, so good with his distance. You know, I plan on being able to go into each fight knowing anything could f***ing happen. But also knowing that I take these eight weeks and prepared, how I am supposed to, how I know I'm capable of preparing, I'm gonna go out there and win each fight in smart and spectacular fashion."
Watch the latest edition of The MMA Hour below (O'Malley interview - 2:37:34):
Sean O'Malley's UFC record currently stands at 8-1, comprising six bonus-winning performances. He will face a big step up in competition in his next outing, taking on bantamweight veteran Pedro Munhoz at UFC 276 in July.
When Israel Adesanya confessed to stealing Sean O'Malley's move
Sean O'Malley's admiration for Israel Adesanya's skillset is not entirely one-sided. The UFC middleweight champion is also seemingly sold on some of O'Malley's unique strikes.
Adesanya once revealed that he had stolen a move that 'Suga' used earlier on in his career. 'The Last Stylebender' said in the lead up to O'Malley's UFC 264 bout against Kris Moutinho:
"I like some of that stuff he does, like the look back feint, I'll kind of snatch that off him. Even that, the one I clipped Vettori with, that spinning kick, in the first fight. I clipped Vettori with like a little pirouette kick, stole that off Sean, I think, from one of his early fights. I was like, 'That's slick', and I tried it out for the first time in that Vettori fight, never tried it before, and I was like, 'Oh let me see if this works', and it worked."
Watch the clip below:
