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No. 13-ranked UFC bantamweight star “Suga” Sean O’Malley recently shared that some of Joe Rogan’s commentary drives him “crazy.”
Specifically, O’Malley has a problem with Rogan commenting during UFC broadcasts that Suga’s opponents should target his legs.
The 135 pounder has only lost once as a professional mixed martial artist. In August 2020, O’Malley took on Marlon “Chito” Vera at UFC 252 and was defeated via TKO. The ground-and-pound finish came after Chito compromised O’Malley’s leg with a kick. According to Suga, Chito’s toe hit a nerve, which rendered his leg useless.
So, O’Malley isn’t happy with the narrative that Rogan is potentially painting about his lower-body resilience.
Speaking recently with ex-two division UFC champion Daniel Cormier on the “DC & RC” podcast, O’Malley opened up about his frustration. Cormier also works for the promotion as a color analyst, and he’s called several of O’Malley’s fights alongside Rogan.
O’Malley said via Sportskeeda.com: “I have watched my fights back over and over again and every time I hear you and Joe say something, they say, ‘I don’t know why they don’t kick his legs like Chito Vera did. It was very effective for him’. Oh god, it drives me crazy DC.
“That drives me crazy. Because the leg kick he landed wasn’t a good quality leg kick. My leg kicks I was landing on him were making him spin around in circles. His big toe hit the nerve when I was pulling out from a kick.”
O’Malley went on to say that he respects the job of a commentator “a ton.”
“Every time I criticize your guys’ commentary, it’s just my opinion,” O’Malley continued. “And obviously, I’m my biggest fan. So when I hear you guys say, ‘Oh, why don’t they just do what Chito did?’
“Chito didn’t do s***. He got lucky, kicked my nerve.”
O’Malley Signed a New Contract With the UFC, Hopes to Make $1 Million Per Fight
During his conversation on “DC & RC,” Suga also revealed that he signed a new contract ahead of his UFC 276 clash with Pedro Munhoz next month. And the fighter also said that he hopes to one day make $1 million per fight.
“I actually recently sat down with the UFC,” O’Malley said via Sportskeeda.com. “Resigned with them. And I had a great conversation with Sean Shelby. I go in there and I say, ‘Hey, I wanna make this amount of money. How do I do that? What do I need to do as a business partner to the UFC to end up making the amount of money I wanna make.'”
“For me, I wanna get to point where I’m making a million dollars a fight. Obviously I’m not there right now and that’s not what I’m expecting to make against Pedro. But that’s where my mind’s at.”
O’Malley Faces a Major Test at UFC 276 By Fighting the Longtime Top-10 Bantamweight
O’Malley will look to break into the division’s top 10 by taking out Munhoz, who is ranked No. 10 as per the official UFC standings. They’ll battle during the event’s main card at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on July 2.
Although Munhoz is 0-2 in his last two bouts, he’s been a part of the division’s top 10 for years. And he’s a solid test to see how well O’Malley can hang with the top bantamweights.
O’Malley has picked up three KO/TKO victories since his loss to Chito in 2020, stopping Thomas Almeida, Kris Moutinho and most recently, Raulian Paiva.
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