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Caitlin Clark: UFC’s 5′11″ Champ Sean O’Malley Challenges NCAA GOAT in Basketball Ahead of March Madness Finals

Published 04/06/2024, 4:30 PM EDT

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Sean O’Malley thinks he might beat college basketball phenom Caitlin Clark, who has set the college basketball world on fire, in a one-on-one basketball match. Or so he told ‘The Schmo’, tongue-in-cheek in a recent interview.

Clark, of course, has already become the highest-scoring NCAA Division-1 player, beating ‘Pistol’ Pete Mavarich and has become the first to win the Dawn Stealy Guard of the Year award consecutively among her many other achievements. South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley has said that if the Iowa Hawkeyes’ Point Guard wins a championship in her NCAA stint, it would “seal the deal” on her being the college basketball GOAT. So why did O’Malley say he could beat the wunderkind?

Sean O’Malley thinks he can take Caitlin Clark in basketball

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Sean O’Malley, who has been relaxing after successfully defending his bantamweight title for the first time in impressive fashion last month, joined MMA journalist ‘The Schmo’ for a characteristic light-hearted interview with the YouTuber.

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During their interview, the Montana native was asked by the interviewer how he thinks he would do in a 1v1 pickup game against Caitlin Clark, O’Malley jokingly picked himself to win. “She’s been in it a little bit you know she’s been in it I haven’t been balling much so I’d probably have to say me,” the flamboyant UFC 135-pound champion said.

‘Suga’ comes from an athletic background even before he took up mixed martial arts and used to play competetive basketball in his school. Not only play basketball, O’Malley is apparently a big fan of the sport and told ‘The Schmo’ that he would like nothing more than to return to playing organized basketball.

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‘Suga’ promises basketball career after he’s done with MMA

Sean O’Malley told the journalist that, despite his love for the game, he had given up basketball in the recent past since his coach Tim Welch and former light heavyweight champion Jamahal Hill had been hurt playing it.

“You know what, Tim tore his Achilles about three months ago… Jamal Hill tore his Achilles playing basketball… I thought, you know what, its a sign from Jesus Christ my Lord and savior to not play basketball.”

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However, this unfortunately led to him turning down a celebrity basketball game, which “hurt deep down in my soul”  since “I love ball, ball is life.” The bantamweight champion promised that after he is done with his MMA career, “I will be in the [NBA’s] summer league.” So in love is O’Malley with the sport that he floated that he “might go back college” to play college basketball after retiring. What do you think about O’Malley’s comments?

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Written by:

Kanishk Thakur

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Kanishk Thakur is a UFC writer at EssentiallySports with nearly 5 years of professional writing experience. Kanishk has expertly covered the heated rivalries of the fight game, and delivered meticulous reports of payouts of PPV events and Fight Nights, in addition to covering the personal side of fighters outside the sport. He is also an ardent Joe Rogan fan, who hopes to draw in more fans to the sport as Rogan did for him.
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Edited by:

Himanshu Sridhar