Sean O’Malley Wants To Prove The ‘Stupid People’ Wrong At UFC 260

Going into his fight against Thomas Almeida this weekend at UFC 260, Sean O’Malley says that he’s feeling great and is going into the bantamweight showdown still feeling undefeated, despite his loss to Marlon Vera last August at UFC 252.

Late in the first round of his UFC 252 clash with Marlon Vera, O’Malley fell to the ground with drop foot, as ‘Chito’ pounced on him with a barrage of punches, forcing the referee to stop the fight. A couple of weeks later, ‘Suga’ took to YouTube to challenge the legitimacy of his opponent’s victory, and said that he was ‘mentally undefeated’.

Still Mentally Undefeated

Ahead of his return to the Octagon against Almeida this weekend, O’Malley has reiterated his stance. During the UFC 260 pre-fight media scrum (as transcribed MMA Fighting), the 26 year old said that he doesn’t feel like he was beaten.

“Eventually, I’m going to lose – I’m not worried about not losing,” O’Malley said. “I do jiu-jitsu with some really good people, I train with really good people. I lose in the gym. Losing’s not that big of a deal really. One of these days, I’m going to lose a fight, and hopefully it’s not going to be due to an injury. It’s going to be however it ends and it’s going to be fine.

“The way I lost that last fight, it wasn’t because he was a better fighter, [or] he was more skilled. How many leg kicks have been thrown from when that happened until now, and how many times has that happened where you got drop foot? He didn’t take me down. My leg completely gave out, and I landed on my back. It happened like that, it is what it is, but it doesn’t affect me at all going into this fight. In my mind, [I’m] 12-0 coming off the Eddie [Wineland] fight, and I’m in a good spot. I’m mentally in a really good spot. I feel good.”

Not A Sore Loser

O’Malley promised that he’s not a sore loser, but said that he’s only being honest when he says he doesn’t feel like he lost to Vera.

“Losing a fight to me, it’s not a big deal,” O’Malley explained. “I know I got a lot of criticism for handling my last loss, but it’s just because you guys ask me questions and I answer it.

“You guys ask me how I feel? I’m like I feel undefeated. Then you guys say ‘Be yourself,’ and I’m like OK, I feel undefeated. Then they’re like, ‘No, don’t be yourself, act like you can handle a loss.’ I don’t mean you obviously, just people in general.”

Response To Critics

Since making his debut a little over three years ago, O’Malley has become one of the most talked about fighters in the UFC. However, his popularity has come at a cost, as he has been subjected to criticism and hatred online. Thankfully, ‘Suga’ has thick skin, and doesn’t worry too much about what’s being said about him.

“The only time it ever even comes in my mind is when you guys ask me that question,” O’Malley said. “I’m going in there, I already put in the work. Whatever happens Saturday night’s going to happen. So I just let it flow. My expectations of what’s going to happen, we’ll see. I plan on going in there and taking him out and winning. If that doesn’t happen, I’ll live to fight another day. It’s not the end of the world.

“I wasn’t really used to dealing with too much hate, but I also know the people that are doing that, they’re probably dealing with some stuff mentally. There’s nobody that’s doing too good in life that’s coming on there talking s***. It hasn’t really affected me too much, but it would be nice to go out there and prove the stupid people that they are stupid.”

Do you think Sean O’Malley returns to winning ways against Thomas Almeida at UFC 260?

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