UFC 280: Sean O'Malley 1-on-1 with Kevin Iole

Yahoo Sports' Kevin Iole interviews UFC bantamweight Sean O'Malley, who fights former interim champion Petr Yan on Oct. 22 at UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi. "Suga Sean" says he was surprised the former interim champion accepted the fight against him, but believes Yan is the perfect opponent to showcase all of his skills.

Video Transcript

KEVIN IOLE: Hey, everybody. I am Kevin Iole. Welcome to Yahoo Sports. That is Suga Sean O'Malley, as well as I don't know who, but they are obviously making him look good for UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi, one of the best cards in an awful long time the UFC has put on, and they put on some really good ones. Sean O'Malley is second from the top on this one. He is fighting Petr Yan, the former interim champion. Sean, first of all, were you surprised when you got the call that they picked you for this fight? Did you expect to get this fight this quickly?

SEAN O'MALLEY: It's a good question. Yes and no. Obviously, the Pedro Munhoz fight didn't play out the way I wanted it to. In my eyes, I was-- if you look at the stats, I didn't get hit once in the face, didn't get hit in the body, checked a lot of the kicks. I punched him. He thought I broke his orbital. I thought he thought I poked him in the eye because I hit him so hard. I just felt like, at the end of the day, that I won that fight or I was about to, so-- apparently, UFC thought the same thing because you don't get offered the number one guy in the world coming off a loss or coming off, you know.

I think, obviously, having a big name helps, too, but I went to the UFC off of that fight. I said, I'm ready to book a fight. I'm-- let's go. Let's do this. Petr Yan was the only guy in the top 10 without a fight. And that fight came about like that. I'm surprised Petr took it more than I'm surprised the UFC offered it to me.

KEVIN IOLE: Because of the fact that, hey, what's in it for him fighting a guy ranked 12th? Is that what you're referencing?

SEAN O'MALLEY: Yeah, I mean, yeah. I'm not ranked as high. Obviously, at number one, he can't fight someone ranked higher than him, but he must have wanted to book a fight, too. I'm just surprised that he took the fight with the-- I don't know, I guess I'm not, too, just because I am a big name. He beats me, it's a big win for him, too.

KEVIN IOLE: When they're done with you, by the way, can you send them my way because I need some work? So I got a couple of hours here that they can maybe help me out a little bit. Anyway, Sean, I want to ask you about the Contender Series a little bit because that's kind of where you came into public consciousness with your performance there. Bo Nickal's thing the other day, he was just phenomenal in the Contender Series all of a sudden. I shouldn't say all of a sudden, but he's really feeding the UFC with great talent. I wanted to get your take on it.

What is it about that way of getting into the UFC that hardens guys so much and helps find? Because the UFC could be signing all you guys, right? Just signing you and not after you fight on the series. What is it that you think about the Contender Series format that is helping develop so many great fighters?

SEAN O'MALLEY: Yeah, I think there's just so many good fighters out there that are just not signed due to the UFC can't have an unlimited roster. But I think there's just that many good fighters out there. And the Contender Series, obviously, if you're trying to get into the UFC, that's where you'd want to end up, on the Contender Series. Sean Shelby, Hunter, Nick, Dana, or sitting cageside. It's become a pretty big show, so it's just where you want to be if you're not in the UFC, fighting in front of the bosses. So I think there's just so much good talent out there that it's just the Contender Series highlights it really well.

KEVIN IOLE: You've been in the UFC for a couple of years now, so can you see the difference in overall talent at, say, in your division compared to when you made your debut?

SEAN O'MALLEY: Yeah, absolutely. I think every year, each division is going to get deeper and deeper and deeper. It's just the sport's insane. I mean that 17-year-old, I didn't watch the fight, but I know at 17, I wasn't able to even be on the Contender Series, let alone get signed to the UFC. So yeah, the divisions are going to continue to get deeper and deeper with the sport growing as much as it is. And fighting is the best sport in the world, so even if there's not a lot of money in it early on, people are still going to have passion for the sport and want to fight regardless.

So yeah, each year is going to just-- the division is going to get better and better and better in the next 10 years, as we're going to be seeing. Probably a lot more young kids, 17, 18, 19-year-olds getting signed to the UFC just because they're going to have the experience and the skill set to do so. It's a young man's sport, so yeah.

KEVIN IOLE: Interesting. You have fought nine times in the UFC, and seven of those nine have gone to a natural conclusion, either a decision or a finish. Two fights, your Chito Vera fight and the Pedro Munhoz fight, got stopped because of injuries in the middle of the bout, so I guess my question I wanted to ask you about that is, six of those seven fights went to a natural conclusion. You've gotten either performance of the night or fight of the night. And my question on that is, do you actually go out there and say, hey, I am going to put on a show, and so, do you fight that way so that you can make a name for yourself and get attention, or is that just sort of a byproduct of your style?

SEAN O'MALLEY: I think even if you go back and look at my first couple of kickboxing matches when I was 16 and my first MMA fight when I was 18, my entire amateur career, there was no $50,000 on the line. There was not even $1,000 on the line, and the fights were very similar. I go out there, it's just my style. It was never anything. It wasn't like thought about. It wasn't like, well, you have to be different. You just have to get as good as you can at what you're good at to excel in the sport.

And my style just happens to be that knockout kind of flashy style. You can't-- I couldn't-- if I wanted to, I couldn't even go in there, and then I'm just going to be a grinder wrestler. I'm going to do that. I just couldn't. You just have to get good at what you're already good at, and my style just happens to be entertaining. And so, I definitely don't think like, going into this fight, I'm not like, oh, I'm going to try to do some flashy stuff so I can get $50,000 extra dollars. I'm going to just go in there and do what I know I'm capable of doing and that will get me $50,000.

KEVIN IOLE: And I was going to say the one thing, the advantage, I mean, your speed and quickness allow you to do things that other guys can't do, right? And so, you get those flashy knockouts because you have such quick hands and feet that put you in a position that other guys maybe can't get into. Would you agree with that?

SEAN O'MALLEY: Yeah, my speed is definitely my biggest advantage, I'd say.

KEVIN IOLE: Yeah. How much of an advantage is it against Petr? And do you think like-- everybody's expecting this to be some really high-level striking contest, and I hope it is. But do you feel like your speed is going to be a big edge against a guy like this?

SEAN O'MALLEY: Yeah, there's not going to be any fight I ever go into that my speed isn't going to be my biggest asset and something I think is going to play a huge role in the fight. It's no different. I do think Petr will be probably the fastest guy I've fought, but I've had really, really good training partners. I flew in some people-- I've had some good guys, good kickboxers that are fast.

It's hard for me sometimes to find guys that are quick as me, but my sparring partners have been awesome. I've been doing all my sparring over at the MMA lab, and they have a bunch of killers over there. So it's been-- I've had very good preparation for Petr Yan.

KEVIN IOLE: What do you make of him? His first fight against Sterling, he thought he dominated until he had the foul. He looked tremendous against José Aldo. Some people may have thought Aldo was done at that point. Aldo came back and had a couple of good performances after that. But his last fight maybe wasn't as impressive as he had been. So how do you break him down, and where do you think he is in his career right now?

SEAN O'MALLEY: Yeah, I think that goes to show you how good Aljamain Sterling is. It's the reason Peter didn't look so good in his last fight. Alja adapted. The first fight, you can look at it, and Alja came out kind of spazzy, and Petr was tactical and started pissing off in those later rounds and kind of dominated the fight. Alja, in the second fight, came out with a better game plan, wasn't so spastic, and did what he needed to do. So I think that just goes to show you how good Alja is.

Petr still could be considered the champ in some people's eyes. I thought Alja did win that fight. It's debatable for some. So he could be considered the champ, or I mean, he is the number one guy in the Bantamweight division right now. So he's definitely as good as people think he is. He's as scary as people think he is. His skills are as good as they are. And I think that's just a perfect person for me to go out there and show how good I really am.

KEVIN IOLE: Yeah. The Bantamweight division is fantastic. I mean, so many great fighters. I think at 135, 145, 155, we have just overloaded with talent. Does it help you at all, or is it a motivation to know right above you is the title fight? So you're going to walk back to the locker room after the fight, and you're going to be able to watch who you're fighting next, right? Does that help at all in any way? I don't even know if it's motivational because you can't have any more motivation than I'm sure you do, but just being able to watch them in person go at it.

SEAN O'MALLEY: I honestly-- I've had very little thought of what's next. Obviously, I go out there and beat the number one guy in the world, you get a title shot. It's kind of what happens. But yeah, I think I go out-- I don't know. It's hard to say. One of those guys could get hurt. Whoever wins the belt could get hurt. You could have an interim title. It's just so tricky to say. That Chito Vera fight is right around the corner, too, that I'm really, really excited about. So I wouldn't say there's any extra motivation knowing the titles, those guys are on there. I think-- yeah, I'm just so excited for me versus Petr to stand in the Octagon.

KEVIN IOLE: So before we let you go, I know you got a whole day of interviews. Give us a little scoop on October 22 in Abu Dhabi. What's it going to look like? We see what's going on here. Give us a scoop. What color is it going to be? Long, short, going to be braided? What are we going to have?

SEAN O'MALLEY: Yeah, the hair will always be braided. I don't want it bouncing into my eyes. That's the one most annoying thing ever is when your hair-- you're trying to get in a fistfight with somebody, and you got a hair in your eye.

KEVIN IOLE: Yeah.

SEAN O'MALLEY: Yeah, so the hair will always be braided, the colors will always be bright, and I'll always shine under the light, so it's going to be fun. Abu Dhabi makes it a little extra special. Never-- in my last 10 fights, I've even been in Vegas, so it's going to be interesting. I head out for Abu Dhabi Thursday, so I will be out there a little over two weeks. I'll be dialed in. My sleep will be good. My circadian rhythm will be on Abu Dhabi time, and I'll be ready to go.

KEVIN IOLE: Awesome. Well, October 22, UFC 280, one of the best cards of the year. I'll tell you what, one of the best I can remember in a while. This man Suga Sean O'Malley is fighting Petr Yan. You don't want to miss that. You don't want to miss the card. Sean, best of luck to you, my friend. Thank you for your time, and good luck with the work.

SEAN O'MALLEY: Thanks. I appreciate it.

KEVIN IOLE: See you, bro.