Sean O’Malley sets sights on Conor McGregor feat he once doubted

Sean O’Malley thinks he’s finally got the opening to turn his ‘Suga Show’ vision into reality.

This Saturday, UFC 324 kicks off the promotion’s new year with Justin Gaethje taking on Paddy Pimblett for the interim lightweight title.

In the co-main event, former bantamweight champion ‘Suga’ makes his first appearance since losing to Merab Dvalishvili last June.

O’Malley was originally set to face Song Yadong on the undercard, but after Kayla Harrison vs Amanda Nunes was called off, their bout was moved up to the co-main slot.

The 31-year-old feels that, having once again been given a high-profile position and entrusted by the UFC, he still has a way to make his long-held dream a reality.

Sean O’Malley still has ambitions to become the UFC’s main attraction

Back when he first appeared on Dana White’s Contender Series, there was a buzz around O’Malley that had fans optimistic about where his career could go.

Backed early on by personalities like Joe Rogan and Snoop Dogg, it always seemed likely that ‘Suga’ would make an impact on the sport.

He reached a major milestone in 2023 by knocking out Aljamain Sterling to claim the bantamweight title. But even after achieving such success, he was not widely seen as the top star in the promotion.

The presence of names like Alex Pereira, Jon Jones, and Conor McGregor kept him out of that conversation.

Before his fight against Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306 last year, O’Malley even admitted that reaching that level might be out of reach.

“I always kind of put myself like, ‘I wanna be as big as Conor’. I wanna do that but it’s like, I don’t think I could be as big as Conor,” he said on his podcast.

But heading into his return this Saturday, O’Malley spoke about how he can still become the top name in the sport.

He told UFC Embedded: “The Suga Show hasn’t peaked yet, I wanted to be the biggest superstar in the UFC at one point and I never really was that.

“I was always top 2 or top 3, I was never the 1, and I still feel I have that potential. That means I have to go out there and beat Song and I still see that path for me to become the Suga that I wanted to become before it’s all said and done.”

O’Malley has more to prove before UFC stardom

O’Malley still sees a path towards becoming the UFC’s biggest star, but there is plenty of work left to do if he wants to get there.

Petr Yan will likely defend his title in a rematch against Dvalishvili, forcing the 31-year-old American to wait for his title shot.

Meanwhile, Umar Nurmagomedov is set to face Deiveson Figueiredo this weekend. If Nurmagomedov impresses, it could be hard for O’Malley to stay ahead of him in the queue.