Sean O’Malley believes he’ll end 2024 as the biggest name in sports: “Doing it in spectacular fashion”

UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley is calling his shot.

‘Sugar’ has been out of action since a knockout win over Aljamain Sterling in August. That stoppage victory saw Sean O’Malley claim bantamweight gold, and he already had a name on his mind. Following the event, the newly crowned titleholder called for a rematch with Marlon Vera.

‘Chito’ scored a stoppage win over Sean O’Malley in 2020, during their first clash. Last competing in August, Vera is coming off a unanimous decision win over Pedro Munhoz. Despite calls for a title shot from Aljamain Sterling and Merab Dvalishvili, the company announced the title rematch for UFC 299 earlier today.

On social media, Dana White recently announced that Sean O’Malley vs. Marlon Vera 2 would go down next March. While there are not many details revealed for the event as of now, ‘Sugar’ believes the fight will be a big one. On The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, the bantamweight champion opined that the rematch is the first step to him becoming the biggest star in sports.

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Image Credit: UFC

“I will be the biggest name in sports,” Sean O’Malley stated on The MMA Hour following the announcement of his March return. “I go out there and knockout ‘Chito’, get one fight at the end of the year, win that. Two in 2024, I believe I will be the biggest name in sports, yeah. Especially doing it in spectacular fashion, not boring like ‘Chito’ vs. Pedro [Munhoz], super boring.”

He continued, “I can’t have performances like that. That would be embarrassing, I definitely don’t want to do that. That’s not how you become [the biggest star in sports]. [I beat] Aljo, that’s the toughest fight in the division. That was the number one guy in the division.”

What do you make of these comments from Sean O’Malley? Do you agree?