On Saturday night, Sean O’Malley snapped his two-fight losing streak and got back in the win column in the co-main event of UFC 324. He took on a strong and durable opponent in Song Yadong, and in the end, he was able to overcome some adversity and get his hand raised for the win.
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As you can imagine, there’s a lot of excitement in the air when it comes to finding out what’s next for O’Malley. Many people are suggesting he could jump ahead and take the title again, but it’s hard to say at this point with Merab Dvalishvili and Umar Nurmagomedov both making their case for a shot at Petr Yan.
However, it turns out that there was a lot more at stake in this battle for O’Malley than most people realized, as he revealed in a recent interview.
O’Malley reflects on the huge win at UFC 324
“Realistically, you never know,” O’Malley said on “About Last Fight.” “If I had lost, I would say these weight cuts suck, F this. I don’t know if I would have been like that, but it’s possible. I’ll retire when I feel good, it’s time. If I would have lost, it could have been (my last fight). I have such a good life at home, I could have just been like you know what.
“That was a scary thought going into this fight, I even had that thought in my head. Because I thought, how bad do I really want this? When it comes to one of those moments where how bad I want it, am I going to be able to push like I did in that Petr Yan fight? I got my answer tonight. I still want it, and I proved that to myself. The only way I would know that was if I had to dig deep and I did.”
“I had two losses,” O’Malley said. “I did a good job of not building it up too big. Because if I lose this fight, I still have a great life. I’m still doing well, but still I can’t come back from three defeats. I can’t lose again. There was a lot of pressure. Not a lot, but there was definitely a pressure that I put on myself.”
Quotes via MMA junkie
Will Sean become world champion again? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below, BJPENN Nation!
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