Coach: Sean O’Malley Won’t Lose Drawing Power After Back-to-Back Losses

According to coach Tim Welch, Sean O'Malley is the type of fighter whose star power transcends mere wins and losses.

The UFC put its marketing muscle behind “Suga” not long after he appeared on Dana White's Contender Series, and that push propelled him to the top of the bantamweight division. The promotion remained firmly behind O’Malley even after he relinquished the 135-pound title to Merab Dvalishvili in a lopsided unanimous decision defeat at UFC 306, granting the MMA Lab product an immediate rematch when he was ready to return.

While O’Malley made some improvements, so did his opponent, and Dvalishvili rolled to a third-round submission victory in their second meeting at UFC 316 on June 7. Still, Welch believes O’Malley fits into a rare category when it comes to mainstream appeal.

“Look at Nate Diaz, how big of a star he is,” Welch said on his YouTube channel. “How many losses does he have? Jorge Masvidal, how many losses does he have? They’re still just f—ing huge draws. Huge stars.”

Diaz received a considerable boost from a memorable rivalry with Conor McGregor, where the two fighters split a pair of matchups in 2016. Since then, the Stockton, Calif., native has been one of the biggest names in combat sports — and a trilogy between Diaz and McGregor remains a topic of conversation to this day.

Masvidal, meanwhile, was a long-respected veteran who raised his profile thanks to a memorable 2019 campaign that included finishes of Darren Till, Ben Askren and Diaz. Those efforts propelled him to back-to-back welterweight title shots against Kamaru Usman.

Whether O’Malley can follow a similar trajectory to Diaz or Masvidal remains to be seen. Thus far, his signature win is a second-round TKO of Aljamain Sterling to claim bantamweight gold at UFC 292. He also owns notable victories over Petr Yan and Marlon Vera.

Regardless of what the future holds, Welch said all signs are pointing toward a relatively quick return to action for the former champion.

“It’s so hard to say with him but again, right now we’re not going to clubs, we’re not f—ing partying, we’re saying no to trips. So what else are we going to do?” Welch said. “We’re coming to the gym twice a day. We’re going to train. Might as well [fight]. Might as well not let these years go by. He’s only 30 years old. Might as well just knock them out. Let’s just keep knocking them out.”