UFC bantamweight contender Umar Nurmagomedov feels Sean O’Malley is setting a poor example for other championship-caliber athletes.
Umar Nurmagomedov faces Cory Sandhagen in the UFC Abu Dhabi main event this Saturday. He returns to the Octagon for the biggest test of his career, and a potential opportunity to earn the next bantamweight title shot.
Nurmagomedov could be next for the winner of O’Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili if he can get past Sandhagen. He’s on the precipice of becoming the latest world champion to come from his lineage of top-level fighters.
O’Malley is one of the biggest pay-per-view draws in the UFC, due to his brash persona and exciting style inside the Octagon. Nurmagomedov feels that while O’Malley has an impressive skillset, he could do more to set an example as a UFC titleholder in and out of the cage.
Umar Nurmagomedov scolds Sean O’Malley for “clown” persona
In a recent interview with Daniel Cormier, Umar Nurmagomedov didn’t mince words when discussing the current UFC bantamweight titleholder.
“Me and Sean are two different [people],” Nurmagomedov said of O’Malley. “He loves being funny. We’re different guys and I’m ashamed we have Sean O’Malley as a champion. Men have to be different, it’s about different things…you have to be a good example for the young generation, and you can’t do something like a clown. When Sean Strickland tells him he looks like a clown…is life about money? No, men have to be strong guys…
“Men have to be gentlemen, not a clown, or doing some TikToks, music and dancing. It’s not about that…women can do this…we know what the UFC cares about. They don’t want to give him good fighters with good wrestling.”
As of this writing, O’Malley hasn’t responded to Nurmagomedov’s remarks.
Nurmagomedov is unbeaten in his professional MMA career with a 17-0 record entering UFC Abu Dhabi. He’s defeated the likes of Raoni Barcelos and Nate Maness during his UFC tenure.
Nurmagomedov and O’Malley could potentially be on a collision course, depending on how their upcoming fights play out. Nurmagomedov not only wants to be the one to end O’Malley’s reign but to reel in a new culture in the UFC bantamweight title picture.