Sean O'Malley
During a recent interview with Ariel Helwani on the MMA Hour, Sean O’Malley detailed why he does not work with a manager
For many fighters, working with a manager they can trust becomes crucial to navigate their way around a contract, and get the best deal possible. They also help them secure the right match-up from ranking, and competition point of view, and seldom does it occur that a fighter does not have a manager on board. None of these has been a challenge for Sean O’Malley, who has not only secured the best possible deal for him, but has also landed the best possible fights in his career trajectory. He is all set to face the former bantamweight champion Petr Yan, in the biggest test of his career at UFC 280.
Even without a manager, O’Malley has emerged as a huge superstar, with his YouTube channel, and partnership with the Nelk Boys. He has turned out into a household name in the USA, and this fight with Petr Yan will help him spread his fame and popularity to the Asian terrain.
It is noticeable that for a young fighter like O’Malley it takes massive courage to make the decision of not having a manager. And his decision has paid off big time. Speaking to Ariel Helwani on the MMA Hour, O’Malley touched upon the subject a little bit, and his decision to not hire a manager.
He said, “I am my management… Solo dolo, no middleman, no one taking a random percentage for being a middleman. I do all my own deals, and s**t gets done right.”
He added, “Well, say UFC gets a sponsorship deal and then whoever handles that at the UFC, they’re like ‘oh, UFC wants Sean O’Malley, I’m going to go to his management’ and then their management takes 20%, 15%, whatever, just to tell me about the deal, not to do anything, just to say ‘hey, UFC called, you want to do this deal?.’ Same thing with fight pay money too, you want 15% of my money because you did what? No, that ain’t happening. Oh, you want some of the bonus, too? Yeah, not happening.”
Any doubts or criticism that fans had regarding Sean O’Malley cherry-picking his opponents has been laid to rest with the announcement of his fight against Petr Yan. The event is scheduled to be held at UFC 280, in Abu Dhabi, seemingly in enemy territory.
While O’Malley believes that it is a great match-up, he believes that it is a risky fight for Yan. Speaking on the MMA Hour, he said,
“I wasn’t expecting him to accept it to be honest,” O’Malley said. “It’s a risky fight for Petr. He’s not stupid. Well, maybe he is. He’s a high level boxer, he’s a high level MMA fighter, he’s got to look at me and know that I have legitimate skills. I’m not really in the ‘Top-10’ but I think in his mind a win over me’s a huge win. Even when Chito supposedly ‘beat me’ he got a fight, he fought Jose Aldo who was coming off a title fight. So a win over me isn’t nothing. I’m the biggest name in the bantamweight division, I’m one of the biggest names in the UFC, so I guess in those terms I’m not surprised he took the fight. Stylistically, we get to see how that plays out Oct. 22.”
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