Sean O’Malley only wanted to help.
Cross-divisional beefs are nothing new in mixed martial arts (MMA). For the top Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Bantamweight contender, O’Malley, he’s recently found himself bantering with Featherweight’s Bryce Mitchell.
Things have taken a bit of a turn in regard to the hostility levels stemming from “inbred” comments hurled Mitchell’s way. Ultimately, it all led to a place of compassion from O’Malley.
“He said he was down to his last $2,000,” O’Malley said on BROMALLEY. “And I — just being a co-worker — was like, dude, if you need $20, I’ll Venmo you. I got you. He said now I’m making it personal talking about money and fighting. I just said, ‘Hey, brother. You got any cattle for sale?’ Because I was thinking I could buy a cow from him and then … you know what I mean? Support him through his next training camp. I got that land outside to throw cattle on.
“I was just trying to be a good co-worker, but apparently he wants to fight me,” he concluded. “I don’t know. I was just trying to be a nice person — that’s what gets you for being a nice person nowadays. People want to fight you for that s—t. I wonder if he literally thinks ‘fight’ is spelled that (fite). I think he might (laughs).”
“Sugar” is currently sitting pretty, awaiting things to play out atop his division after earning No. 1-ranked contender status with an Oct. 2022 split decision win over former champion, Petr Yan (watch highlights). Meanwhile, Mitchell is recovering from a Dec. 2022 second-round arm-triangle submission loss to Ilia Topuria (watch highlights).
A match up between the two makes absolutely no sense whatsoever as 2023 gets underway. With O’Malley believing he’ll someday be a Featherweight, however, it very well could be a future possibility.
“You see Bryce getting all upset with me?” O’Malley said. “We had a little back-and-forth.
“He started it, dude,” he continued. “He said I don’t deserve to fight Petr and I’m just using my mouth to get me fights. And I said, ‘Your dad f—ked his sister and made you.’ Kidding, obviously. Then apparently, maybe I wasn’t, because he got all offended. Usually, if you get offended that means they’re right.”