The former UFC lightweight champion, American T. J. Dillashaw, shared his opinion about compatriot Sean O’Malley. According to Dillashaw, he does not believe that Sean will be able to succeed in mixed martial arts, as he has a lot of shortcomings. Nevertheless, the UFC management will continue to invest money in O’Malley, since he is a fighter who attracts the attention of fans.
TJ Dillashaw knows what it takes to be a UFC champion because he was the promotion’s 135lbs champion on two separate occasions. Speaking to Submission Radio in a recent interview, Dillashaw was asked what he thinks about O’Malley, who is quickly rising up the ranks and is turning into a household name. When asked if he thinks “Suga” Dillashaw what it takes to be a UFC champion, he said that he doesn’t have the complete MMA game.
“I don’t think he’ll become champion, he’s got too many holes. And they’re just feeding him the right fights cause he’s a huge draw, right? For one, they pumped him up, they put him in the UFC pump-up machine. They can do that to pretty much anyone if you have a little bit of character, if you can talk whatsoever, be a little bit colourful, they’ll pump you up. And he’s done a good job promoting himself. He’s done a really good job of that,” TJ Dillashaw said
TJ Dillashaw pointed to O’Malley’s past schedule of opposition during his UFC career and the fact that the only time he stepped up against a top-15 fighter, Marlon Vera finished him.
“When you see these guys that get pumped up, they’re also putting in the hard work. So, he does a good job of that. But we see what happened as soon as he fought Chito. Chito is more of a top-ranked fighter, and he got finished in the first round. I mean, I don’t think that he will be champion, but he’s a good draw. Hopefully he can make it far enough to where I could use some of that thunder and get paid off it,” TJ Dillashaw said.