Chael Sonnen has his ideas on who the UFC’s essential attraction is true now.
And it’s not Conor McGregor.
In August 2023, at a Q&A forward of the UFC 292 essential occasion that includes Aljamain Sterling defending his bantamweight title in opposition to Sean O’Malley, Sonnen praised O’Malley as having the “It Factor” and referred to as him “a star on the rise.” O’Malley went on to defeat Sterling by knockout to develop into UFC champion and a yr later, Sonnen believes that there has formally been a altering of the guard so far as who attracts essentially the most eyeballs in MMA.
“O’Malley is the largest star in our sport proper now,” Sonnen stated on his YouTube channel. “And ‘Crimson Panty Evening’ continues to be actual. Conor’s not within the sport, he’s not even licensed. Conor couldn’t stroll in and struggle tonight if he wished to. I’m simply sharing with you, who’s within the sport, it’s a type of issues. Conor has no extra of a declare to this sport proper now than [Georges] St-Pierre or Khabib [Nurmagomedov]. In truth, St-Pierre and Khabib have attended extra UFCs within the final yr than Conor.”
McGregor has lengthy been the de facto reply as to who’s MMA’s most well-known fighter and, in all chance, the following time he steps into the cage he will probably be field workplace gold for the UFC as common. Nevertheless, “The Infamous” has not competed since struggling a damaged leg at UFC 264 in July 2021, and a postponed bout with rival Michael Chandler stays in limbo.
Sonnen raised matter of O’Malley’s star energy within the context of the bantamweight champion having to cope with elevated scrutiny and media tasks forward of his upcoming title protection in opposition to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306 on Sept. 14. He wonders if O’Malley may probably be thrown off his sport by Dvalishvili’s unorthodox strategy to struggle promotion.
“I say that as a result of whenever you’re O’Malley and also you’re on the market working double- and triple-time, you’re ensuring that you just’re in the primary occasion due to stuff you’re doing exterior the octagon,” Sonnen stated. “And whoever will get put in that passenger seat with you, no matter they’ve executed, that’s not why they’re there. They’re there since you’re there. They’re in the primary occasion since you drove to the entrance of the road and there’s an irritation, and I can’t name it a resentment, however there’s an irritation when that individual is just not upholding their finish of the deal, which is each interview I do, you do. I do 5 interviews at 6 a.m., you do 5 interviews at 6 a.m.
“It doesn’t work that means, that’s not how this goes, I’m simply sharing for you as you begin to get irritable, because the stress begins coming in, because the struggle begins getting nearer, as you begin getting these kilos off, and this begins to get extra actual, and also you begin to understand the danger that you’ve got and the distractions that got here alongside due to the stress and the expectations placed on you. Oh, by the way in which, you’re not even favored to win this match. That man is. ‘That man is favored to win this match and that man seems to be just a little bit extra buckled down and centered as a result of he’s not having a few of these different distractions and he’s not having them as a result of he’s not good at doing them, I’m, and so they’re asking me first, and I carry on saying sure.’ And it’s one in every of this stuff that may trouble you.”
Although O’Malley initially opened as a slight underdog to Dvalishvili, several sportsbooks now have the matchup nearer to a choose ‘em.
What’s stunned Sonnen essentially the most is that O’Malley isn’t being given extra respect particularly after a lopsided choice win over Marlon Vera at UFC 299, a end result that Sonnen calls, “The only greatest efficiency of any 135-pounder in historical past.”
Ought to O’Malley get previous Dvalishvili, he probably faces one other harmful bantamweight contender down the highway within the undefeated Umar Nurmagomedov. Sonnen wonders if O’Malley’s run is fated to finish quickly, although he added that “Suga” has made a behavior out of silencing his doubters.
“I really feel that O’Malley, as the largest star, who’s the hardest-working man exterior of the cage that division has ever seen, prime 5 within the sports activities historical past—he could be No. 1—he’s a prime 5 in historical past of the toughest working guys exterior of the cage,” Sonnen stated. “For him to have landed this rocket ship on this place and whoever will get within the passenger seat and now you’re telling me [the oddsmakers] imagine that he’s two-and-a-half occasions extra more likely to lose than he’s to win and even when he wins he attracts into a man with the same disastrous model?
“That could be a lot for a younger man to tackle, however that appears to be precisely the place O’Malley does his greatest work. That appears to be, when that home is on fireplace, and he’s proper on the sting and other people aren’t believing him and he’s bought to remain sharp and if he’s not sharp he’s going to fall right into a mattress of needles, that appears to be the place Sean O’Malley performs his best.”
