Sean O’Malley expects to be the first fighter to knock out Pedro Munhoz when they meet at UFC 276. That doesn’t mean he expects to get credit for it.
The bantamweight UFC star has made peace with the idea that whatever he does, his talent won’t be recognized by a certain subset of fans. They’ll just keep moving whatever goalpost they set before the fight.
“I could submit Khabib and people would be like, ‘Yeah, but,'” O’Malley said Wednesday during a media day in support of Saturday’s pay-per-view event at T-Mobile Arena. “Something. They’d say something.
“So I pay no attention to what the negative fans say. It doesn’t matter to me. Yes, I’ll go out there and finish Pedro, and yes, it’ll be like, ‘Yeah, but,’ so it doesn’t matter.”
O’Malley is a brawny fighter and a bright-eyed savage. He has been in the crosshairs. It certainly hasn’t been his multiple knockout wins in the octagon, so he’s embraced the attention whatever form it’s taken.
Call it arrogance, cockiness or confidence, O’Malley said it’s his part of his mindset to believe he’s the superior fighter.
“Anybody in my weight group, I can see me standing next to them and knocking their out,” he stated. “I’ve done it over and over and over again – it’s hard not to envision that. Everyone I fight, I knock out, so that’s just how I see this fight going. This is how I view any fight I ever will be in. All they have to do is put their hands on my chin enough and I’ll make them fall .”
Munhoz made fun of O’Malley’s inability to recognize his fall against Marlon vera, which was his first setback professionally. On Saturday, the Brazilian will get his chance to dash his opponent’s prediction.
O’Malley thinks that with just a couple more highlight-reel footage he’ll soon be on his way towards a title shot.
“There’s a little Russian dude running around saying no one wants to find him,” said O’Malley, referring to ex-champ Petr Yan. That’s an option. [Rob Font] might be an option; he got beat up a few times, so it might not be. This division is crazy. A lot of guys are already booked. We will just have to wait and see what the fights turn out over the next few months .”
Maybe when he’s holding the belt fans will give him more respect. He’s not waiting.
