Sean O’Malley suffered his first career setback last Saturday at UFC 252. In his defense, his defeat was because of a freak injury that restricted his mobility around the cage. However, he opts to not blame his loss on external forces, as only the win remains in the record books and not the manner in which the fighter secured it.

‘Sugar’ said, “We picked the day, we picked the time. We both walked out. And it doesn’t matter who the f**k wins. Whoever wins, however they win, wins.” 

Despite his recent loss, O’Malley’s competitive streak is still alive. However, he doesn’t like the fact that he lost his most high profile fight to date. 

Read: WATCH: Nasty Injury Ends Sean O’Malley’s Unbeaten Streak at UFC 252

He said, “It sucks to me that I lost to someone who I look at as not very good. That’s the most frustrating thing, losing to someone I’m better than.”

O’Malley has spent years as a fighter and has seen that it’s not always the better fighter who wins. All it takes is a good punch or a wild haymaker to help turn the tables around in a heartbeat. He feels that this is symbolic of his UFC 252 match.

“I did everything right, there was nothing I did wrong. The sparring, the training, the eating, the sleeping, everything I did was f**king right,” said a frustrated O’Malley.  

Sean O’Malley claims he will be a world champion

Following UFC 252, O’Malley finds himself out of the bantamweight rankings, with Vera slotting in at the 14th spot. The 25-year-old fighter says that he takes solace as he wants to look at his career in the long term.  

O’Malley has plans of capturing the divisional gold and not being a journeyman, akin to what he likens ‘Chito’ as. 

“But what makes me feel better. Okay, let’s look at his career after five years, and let’s look at mine. I’m gonna be a f**king world champion. He’s gonna be a journeyman.”

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He highlights this in Vera’s fight style, saying that he wins some and loses some, but he admits that his opponent can take blows before making a comeback.

Vera is yet to lose by KO in his career and was seen as KO artist O’Malley’s biggest threat. ‘Sugar’ remained confident about securing a finish as he claimed that ‘Chito’ was just ‘standing there’. 

Read: What’s Next for Sean O’Malley After UFC 252?

The confidence is what will help ‘Sugar’ brush aside the setback and return with a bang as he tries to make good his claims of being a champion. His next fight will be crucial as another injury or consecutive defeats will see his stock fall drastically.