Unranked champ no more: Sean O’Malley enters bantamweight top-15 after UFC 269

Sean O’Malley can no longer call himself the unranked champion.

In the lead-up to UFC 269, O’Malley created merch that said he was the unranked champ. He also joked that he doesn’t want to fight ranked opponents as he only wants to fight unranked opponents until he gets paid more.

“I feel like I’m one of the biggest stars in the UFC,” O’Malley said to UFC.com in the lead up to UFC 269. “I feel like if everyone was fighting at the same time and you could only pick one person to watch, it would be me. That’s where I got the ‘Unranked Champ’ mindset… I’m obviously not ranked. It’s funny because it makes people so angry. I’m making money and doing my thing.”

At UFC 269, O’Malley was taking on Raulian Paiva, who was ranked just a few months ago after he beat “Suga’s” teammate in Kyler Phillips. Yet, by the time they fought, Paiva was no longer in the rankings but it was still supposed to be a tough fight for him. However, it was far from that as he ran through Paiva and earned a first-round TKO win.

Look who's finally joined the rankings.. 👀@SugaSeanMMA comes in at 1️⃣3️⃣ – now who next? pic.twitter.com/Ou1fUZK6qe

— UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) December 14, 2021

Following the win, the UFC’s rankings were updated on Tuesday, and Sean O’Malley is now ranked 13th at bantamweight. He jumps ahead of Song Yadong and Cody Stamann and right below Raphael Assuncao and Frankie Edgar.

With O’Malley now ranked at bantamweight, it makes his next fight that much more interesting. Many fans are hoping he gets to fight a ranked opponent and after UFC 269, some hinted he should settle his rivalry with Cody Garbrandt, or perhaps he could face a legend like Frankie Edgar or Dominick Cruz among others. Regardless, now that O’Malley is ranked the fights will only get tougher for Suga who has looked very impressive.

Who would you like to see Sean O’Malley fight next after UFC 269?