Sean O’Malley has no plans to switch to boxing. still.
The current UFC bantamweight champion has recently received interest from boxing star Ryan Garcia, who said during an appearance on The MMA Hour that he would “beat” O’Malley in an MMA rules contest. Garcia took his fame to another level last Saturday by defeating WBC super lightweight champion Devin Haney in a thriller (Garcia was 3.2 pounds underweight, so he didn’t win the title).
A crossover match between O’Malley and Garcia would definitely be interesting, and O’Malley says UFC leaders have approved him boxing Garcia if the promotion gets a big enough pie.
“I was told that if I could make enough money, I would be 100 percent willing to do a boxing match,” O’Malley said on the TimboSugarShow podcast. “So, you have options, as long as you can make enough money. But Ryan is such a freak, so you need a double A-side to have Conor fight Floyd, who is a freak.”
In August 2017, the UFC famously allowed Conor McGregor, pay-per-view’s biggest box office draw, to compete in a boxing match against undefeated Floyd Mayweather. This proved to be a wise choice, as the event became one of the most successful pay-per-views. All parties involved in event promotion can benefit greatly.
It’s those dollar signs that O’Malley wants to see. O’Malley, 29, is one of the most talked about fighters on the roster, coming off his first defense of the UFC title with a unanimous decision win over his rival Marlon Vera. still feels he needs to fight. Please try harder to establish his name.
“We’re not there yet,” O’Malley said. “We’ve still got to get bigger. We’re talking two more shitty performances and then we can do whatever we want.”
Both O’Malley and Garcia have the talent to generate headlines as well as impressive performances on fight nights. This was especially true for Garcia ahead of his fight with Haney, who raised eyebrows and expressed concern over a series of bizarre rants on social media.
For O’Malley, such antics are just part of the game, but he’s interested to see where Garcia goes now that the win is behind him.
“I think he’s so crazy and so good,” O’Malley said. “He probably practiced hard. Some people have different genes. He couldn’t. … He’s going to make money. Let’s see where he goes in the next two weeks.”
“We’ll see what his mental state is in two weeks after winning such a big game and making that much money and having all these assholes around him.”
Mr. Garcia, for his part, seems open to welcoming Mr. O’Malley into the squared circle.
The boxer posted the following response to O’Malley on social media on Monday:
rainbow kaka brain
I want to put it in a box
get ready to shed rainbows
man bun
slash connor clone
I wanted a boxing match, umm, I wanted an MMA match, but let’s do it.
That’s my brother’s name, bitch @lilrushgee, now I have to destroy you, no lil pony can defeat me
