Sean O’Malley hits back at critics of his ESPY ‘Best MMA Fighter’ win: “I was a crazy underdog”

UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley earned an ESPY Award last weekend despite many questioning his designation as the show’s ‘Best MMA Fighter’.

O’Malley, who is expected to face Merab Dvalishvili later this year, earned the 2024 ESPY Award for ‘Best MMA Fighter’ last weekend. He beat out other top UFC names such as Islam Makhachev and Alex Pereira for the award.

Despite O’Malley’s recent success in the Octagon, some pundits and fans felt O’Malley didn’t deserve the prestigious award. Many felt that fighters such as Pereira and Makhachev were more deserving.

O’Malley has issued his first public remarks since winning the award and has a pointed message for his critics.

Sean O’Malley won ‘Best MMA Fighter’ at the 2024 ESPY Awards

In a recent episode of the TimboSugarShow podcast, O’Malley addressed his detractors.

“You’re looking at a f***ing ESPY winner over here, fellas,” O’Malley said. “The [Aljamain Sterling] fight, I was a massive, massive underdog. He was the greatest bantamweight of all time, everyone thought I was gonna get smoked. So if it was for that performance, I can see. The Chito [Vera] performance was a masterpiece…I was a crazy underdog…

“People were f***ing mad, which was weird,” O’Malley continued. “I didn’t vote, and if I would’ve, I probably would’ve still voted for myself. But I didn’t know that was such a big deal…people were like ‘Why are they forcing him being famous down our throats?’. It might be the f***ing viral knockouts?”

O’Malley captured the UFC bantamweight title by finishing Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292 last year. He last defended the belt against Marlon Vera at UFC 299 in March.

UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones beat out Leon Edwards, Amanda Nunes, and Makhachev for the award last year. O’Malley edged Pereira, Makhachev, and UFC strawweight champion Zhang Weili.