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Sean O'Malley is taking a big step up in competition when he faces No. 9 ranked Pedro Munhoz at UFC 276, but that hasn't stopped 'Sugar' from aiming for a knockout.
O'Malley started hyping up the idea of a finish on social media in the month leading up to July 2, and at the UFC 276 media day press conference he told Sportskeeda's James Lynch what a KO win would mean for his status in the deep bantamweight division.
"I think a win over him would be huge, but a finish over Pedro would be massive. And I'm all about the mass, I'm trying to go above and beyond and perform for the people, and the people want to see people's lights get put out. Winning a decision, I would not be upset against Pedro. Cuz he's very, very tough. But I definitely want to put his lights out."
When asked by Lynch what a finish of Munhoz might earn him next in terms of opponents, O'Malley said:
"There's a little Russian dude running around saying nobody wants to fight him. That's an option. Fob Ront [Rob Font] might be an option. He got beat up a couple of times so it might not be. The division's crazy right now, a lot of guys are already booked so we'll just have to see how the fights play out in the next couple months."
Of course, there's always Marlon 'Chito' Vera, who holds a win over Sean O'Malley from 2020. Discussing Vera's upcoming fight with Dominick Cruz in August, O'Malley said:
"It's hard to count 'Chito' out. I'm excited for that fight, I'm excited to see how it plays out. I think Dominick's ... I predicted Dominick would win and people think it's bias, but I also thought 'Chito' was gonna beat Rob [Font], I thought 'Chito' was gonna beat Frankie [Edgar], and he kind of did. So we'll see."
Watch all UFC 276 press conference videos on Sportskeeda's YouTube page, including Sean O'Malley's interview below:
Sean O'Malley says there's nothing cooler than being a UFC star, not even rapping
Sean O'Malley is part of a new generation of fighters that pumps out podcasts and game streams and Instagram videos to his fanbase of over 2 million followers. He credits the UFC's platform for helping him reach all those fans, telling James Lynch:
"Being a part of the UFC whose platform is massive, so I just go out there and put on performances and they give me this platform to be able to expand my audiences, is huge. Just super grateful to be able to work with the UFC and they give me the platform to go out there and put on these amazing performances, and being known for, being famous for fighting, for knocking people out, there's nothing cooler. Being a rapper's cool, but knocking people out and being known for that? That's it. That's the number one thing people want to be known for."
O'Malley's 15-1 record includes eleven knockout wins, with five of those coming in the UFC. Pretty cool, indeed.
