UFC president Dana White gave high praise to Bantamweight prospect Sean O’Malley, calling him an “exciting fighter” and saying that “people love him.”
Sean O’Malley is scheduled to make his return after a 2-year layoff due to a USADA suspension. He is set to take on Jose Quinonez this weekend at UFC 248. Before the USADA hiatus, O’Malley was one of the quickest rising prospects in the UFC. He had a great performance on the Contender Series, followed by 2 wins in the Octagon.
In a recent media day interview ahead of UFC 248, White was asked to comment on O’Malley and what his expectations are for him. White responded with high praise for the young fighter, explaining why he decided to put him in the main event slot for the ESPN preliminary card bouts.
“He’s an exciting fighter. That’s why we made him the main event on ESPN. He’s an exciting fighter, people love him, and yeah, I’m excited for that fight too,” White about O’Malley.
White was also asked about O’Malley’s situation with USADA, which resulted in him losing 2 years of his career. O’Malley’s tested positive for ostarine and that cost him a lot of big opportunities, according to White. Apparently, O’Malley missed out on a main event slot on the prelims for a Conor McGregor headlined pay-per-view card.
“He was supposed to be one of the featured guys on one of the Conor fights. I don’t know which one it was. It’s a problem,” White said about fighters failing their drug tests in general.
O’Malley will surely be looking to make up for lost time this weekend at UFC 248. While he’s not considered to be a high-profile fighter, Quinonez is a solid challenge for anyone in the UFC Bantamweight division. It makes sense to have him as the opponent for O’Malley’s comeback to the Octagon, If O’Malley is able to secure a win in this fight, we can expect the UFC to push him for bigger and better things this year.
This article first appeared on CLOSEDGUARDMEDIA.com on 5th March, 2020.
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