Sean O’Malley isn’t trying to split up his paychecks.
O’Malley is one of the brightest young stars in the UFC, having built a brand not only as a fighter but also as a podcaster, YouTuber, and streamer. O’Malley has many revenue streams so one would expect him to have an entourage of people supporting him. However, Sug revealed recently that he manages all aspects of his business career.
“I am my management,” O’Malley explained this week on The MMA Hour. “Solo dolo. No middleman, no one taking a random percentage for being a middleman. I make all the deals, and everything gets done correctly
O’Malley is not the only fighter who has decided to take care of business themselves. Former UFC interim welterweight champion Colby Covington left his management team and negotiated his recent fight with Jorge Masvidal on his own, and an increasing number of fighters are making the decision to handle negotiations on their own. O’Malley saw it as a straightforward economic decision: why pay someone a percentage if they don’t do anything?
“Say UFC gets a sponsorship deal, and whoever handles that at the UFC, they’re like, ‘The UFC wants Sean O’Malley, I’m going to go to his management,’ and then their management takes 20 percent, 15 percent, whatever, just to tell me about the deal,” O’Malley said. O’Malley said, “Not to do any, but to simply say, Hey, UFC called. Do you want this deal?” It’s the same thing with fight money too. You want 15 percent of my money because you did what? No, that ain’t happening. You want some bonus money too? This isn’t going to happen.
” I enjoy all aspects of business. There are some fighters who are probably like, ‘F*** that, I don’t even want to look at that stuff. You take care of it and I’ll give you the percentage.’ There’s people like that. Cool. I like to be a part of my deal. All my deals with brands, including the UFC, I prefer to communicate directly. Miscommunication is not something I want. This is what happens when someone else speaks in the middle. It’s not my preference.
“I don’t want to talk for everyone,” O’Malley continued, “but it’s nice getting that check and it’s not — you [don’t] have to write your 15 percent. I pay the coaches, I pay [my people]. I don’t want to have to write a check to a management team for really not doing much.”
So far, it looks like O’Malley is his manager. Despite coming off a no contest against Pedro Munhoz earlier this month, “Suga” is set to face former UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan in a featured main card bout at UFC 280. It’s a big step up for a fighter who has yet to earn a top-10 win inside the UFC, especially for one who previously had friction with the UFC matchmakers.
O’Malley credits this transformation to a shift in his perspective that allowed him to be more practical about the UFC.
” I’d like to say that I’m satisfied with my position in UFC and with the way I’m treated, as well as with what I’m getting paid.” O’Malley stated. “I’m definitely happy. It’s just really been a perspective change, looking at the UFC as more of a platform for me to sell merch, to do all this stuff. It really helped my perspective and the relationship I have with the UFC looking at it that way. That I’m going to take advantage of these opportunities.
” I don’t get paid any more because I fight Petr. … I did not ask for any more money. I’m fighting the No. 1 guy. I’m just going to go out there and take advantage of the opportunity, and that is to fight Petr. I’m lucky to be able to be in this position to be healthy, to be 27, going into my prime, fighting these top-level guys, and I’m going to take advantage of that.”
UFC 280 takes place Oct. 22 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
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