Will Sean O’Malley become UFC champion? TJ Dillashaw doesn’t think so

‘Suga’ Sean O’Malley has long been a fan favourite within the MMA community. The cries of Snoop Dogg’s commentary back on DWCS still echo through the scene and with back to back performances bonuses in his recent outings, it’s safe to say O’Malley is back on everyone’s radar.

Someone who isn’t impressed by the 26 year olds recent successes is former two-time UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw. Speaking recently with Submission Radio, Dillashaw was asked about O’Malley and whether he would become a champion one day. Although TJ seemed to have high regard for the prospects promotional skills, he doesn’t consider him championship material. (Transcribed by Denis Shkuratov)

“I don’t think he’ll become champion. He’s got too many holes and they’re feeding him the right fights ‘cause he’s a huge draw, right? For one, they pumped him up, they put him in the UFC pump-up machine. They can do that to pretty much anyone if you have a little bit of character, if you can talk whatsoever, be a little bit colourful, they’ll pump you up. And then he’s done a good job promoting himself. He’s done a really good job of that. And it takes work, man. When you see these guys that get pumped up, they’re also putting in the hard work, so he does a good job of that.

Dillashaw continued, “But we’ve seen what happened as soon as he fought Chito. Chito is more of a top-ranked fighter, and he got finished in the first round. I mean, I don’t think that he’ll be champion, but he’s a good draw. Hopefully he can make it far enough to where I could use some of that thunder and get paid off it.”

Sean O’Malley has suffered just one defeat in his seven UFC appearances to Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera at UFC 252. Since then however, O’Malley has won back-to-back victories over Thomas Almeida and Kris Moutinho.

TJ Dillashaw on the other hand returned to the octagon following his 2 year USADA suspension back at UFC Vegas 32. Defeating Cory Sandhagen via split decision, Dillashaw has now set himself up to be the ideal challenger for the 135lb title.

Do you agree with TJ’s comments? Can Sean O’Malley become a UFC champion?