January 1, 2025 11:45 am ET
If the UFC returns to Japan, Sean O’Malley desires in.
The previous UFC bantamweight champion was a visitor fighter on the New Yr’s Eve present RIZIN 49, which passed off at Saitama Tremendous Enviornment in Saitama, Japan.
The UFC hasn’t held an occasion in Japan since UFC Struggle Evening 117 in September 2017, however O’Malley (18-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) is fascinated about competing there in the event that they ever return.
“Proper now, clearly, I’m with the UFC,” O’Malley mentioned throughout a RIZIN media scrum (h/t MMA Fighting). “I plan to be with the UFC perpetually. So, if the UFC comes right here sometime, I might like to struggle on this area. There’s a very good vitality right here.”
O’Malley was requested about competing beneath the Japanese ruleset, which he admitted wouldn’t be favorable for him. “I seen after I went in there, the ring is so much softer than the UFC,” O’Malley mentioned. “The UFC platform is thinner. That might be a bit of bit totally different. The ruleset, for me, I really feel prefer it advantages me extra not with the ability to get kicked within the head as a result of I’m sometimes not the one above somebody. If I get taken down I’m often on my again. So, that may most likely not be nearly as good for me, however it will be fascinating.”
“The Suga Present” is presently on the mend after present process surgical procedure because of a torn left labrum – an damage he was coping with previous to losing his bantamweight title to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306 this previous September.
“The manufacturing of the present was unimaginable, the vitality within the area is unimaginable, the ring women are unimaginable,” O’Malley mentioned on the RIZIN 49 occasion. “Total impression of Japan, this has been probably the most enjoyable journey I’ve ever been on, and I might love to come back again.”
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