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Sean O'Malley's father, Dan O'Malley, told the story of how his son got into combat sports.
O'Malley was featured in Anatomy of a Fighter's short documentary ahead of his UFC 280 clash against Petr Yan. During which, the rising star's father revealed that 'Sugar' got into combat sports due to his dislike of playing in a team sports setting:
"Sean was just spectacular at baseball, football, [and] basketball. The problem with Sean is that he never liked team sports. He wasn't good with coaches, wasn't good with any authority, which is ironic because I'm a retired cop and detective... but you can just see Sean that wasn't having fun with organized sports."
The older O'Malley then said that he took the future UFC bantamweight star into a boxing gym in downtown Helena, Montana. However, young Sean was apparently dismissed due to his "scrawny-looking" physique. At that point, Dan decided to turn to an old friend for a favor.
"I have a buddy who's a native American, who was a Golden Gloves boxer. [His] son was Golden Gloves, [and] his daughter was Golden Gloves. I asked him if Sean could go train with him... Took Sean in there and I would say two weeks later, he looked at me and said, 'You've got no idea what you got here. I've been doing this my whole entire career. I've never seen anybody with the speed and strength of Sean."
Watch the mini-documentary below:
Sean O'Malley aspires to become the next Conor McGregor
Sean O'Malley is one of the most popular fighters on the UFC roster today. However, 'Sugar' revealed that his goal is to become as big of a pay-per-view draw as Conor McGregor.
Unlike McGregor, O'Malley has never headlined a PPV before. However, he is set to compete in his highest-profile match so far next month. With that in mind, O'Malley is hoping his ascent continues after that fight:
"I mean, it’s crazy to think any time Conor fights, that’s a million buys," O’Malley said on his personal YouTube channel. "That’s so legendary. That’s the sh*t I want. That’s what makes me so excited about fighting, and the career, and everything. It’s like, doing big pay-per-views, being a part of massive events – that’s so exciting."
Watch Sean O'Malley's video below:
