Sean O’Malley’s stunning win over dominant bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling instantly became the UFC’s public relations machine. Just two days after the fight, Sugar received several hundred thousand more followers on social media and the promotion is actively promoting the new title holder.
The knockout moment itself also quickly went viral on the internet and reminded fans of Conor McGregor’s iconic win over Jose Aldo. The resemblance is definitely significant. Both Conor and Sean in their fights competently worked on the retreat, after the opponent rushed to the attack and hit the sight in the jaw. The only difference is that McGregor’s punch turned out to be more deadly, and O’Malley had to play a bit more with finishing blows. However, some fans are already comparing the fighters and drawing parallels between their careers.
We break down exactly how O’Malley manages to crush his rivals:
Lots of feints and boxing technique. How O’Malley beats the champions
By the way, Notorious also appreciated the knockout and agreed with the comparisons: “Look at O’Malley, who repeats the same thing: “I’ll be as big as Conor McGregor”. Then he comes out and does the same as me to look like Conor. To be honest, he’s just crazy. Have you seen the end? She was almost identical in the main event. This is crazy, great respect. When you haven’t read the whole book, but you know a few pages by heart. This can not be denied”.
Interestingly, the Conor-Aldo fight has already come up once in the context of a discussion about the upcoming O’Malley fight. That was a year ago, and then Sean had to fight Petr Yan.
“O’Malley recently made a comparison saying he would like to be the next Conor McGregor, to become a global superstar. Well, the point is to win key fights. He already has what people like. Now let’s talk about the key battles. The matchup with Peter is similar to the matchup between McGregor and Jose Aldo,” said Dana White.
Yang expressed a similar sentiment: “From a public relations standpoint, of course the fight with O’Malley is similar to the fight between Aldo and Conor. Sean is a project and he wants to be like McGregor. But I’m sure the result will be different. Have you seen our duel with Aldo?
If you look at the professional development of O’Malley and McGregor, then of course you can find a lot in common. Conor has always been considered one of the promotion’s favorites, they gave him great fights, they took him to the top and you can’t say that he wasn’t. McGregor put on a show at press conferences and brought a bunch of new fans to the UFC, which is to say, he worked out his preferences to the full.
O’Malley is not so bright at press conferences, he does not speak ill of his opponents, but he still attracts an audience, and rivals complain that the UFC gives him leniency, convenient opponents and in every possible way promotes the boy to the title A bright image and social media allowed her to follow Conor’s path even faster. That is, O’Malley can be called the star of the new format, a kind of McGregor 2.0. If Notorius was backed by an entire Irish diaspora, which was always and everywhere for him, Sugarok focused on what will be even more in demand in the 21st century: social media. Sean started promoting his personal brand long before the UFC. He laid claim to SugarShow, racked up viral one-punch knockouts, and got people talking about himself. Well, a brilliant performance in Dana White’s series of contenders made him the favorite of the promotion’s head. This is not to say that O’Malley is boring on the microphone. What do you think of the conversation with the reporters after the fight with Sterling: “Did the judges give Aljo the first round? And how did you evaluate the second round?
McGregor is preparing a comeback and named the following three opponents:
McGregor has revealed all the cards. The Irishman knows exactly three upcoming opponents
McGregor and O’Malley’s game plans are also similar to fighting. Both fighters work very well on their hands, accurately hit on the move and add excellent footwork to this, which causes a lot of inconvenience for opponents. Also, both Sugar and Conor are brilliant counter punchers, they have great knockout power. If the opponent gapes and believes too much in his invincibility, this threatens him with fatal consequences.
Sean has repeatedly said that he wants to live up to Conor: “I started watching the fights all the time when McGregor would break in. He tried to be like him. I learned a lot from him. What can be done, what can’t. I guess Conor was someone he looked up to. I watched every interview of his. Did he try to understand why people want to look at him? He speaks well and plays the role well. But most importantly, he fought smoothly. You can dress nice, talk nice, but if you fight like shit, no one cares about you. When it comes to who has blown up the sport, who really took it to the next level, who is the most spectacular, who has wowed the most people, Conor is the greatest of the greatest.”
All this is just another confirmation of what was mentioned above. O’Malley adopted some of the idol’s stylistic traits, taught himself the basics of how a fighter should be marketed, and has now become the new big star of the UFC. Sugar Show continues.
