Sean O’Malley (image via UFC/YouTube)

By FCF Staff

It remains to be seen who Sean O’Malley fights next. But, it looks like the rising star isn’t interested in a main event fight, unless he gets paid more money.

The 26-year-old O’Malley (14-1) is coming off a one-sided, TKO win over Kris Moutinho in July, after stopping Thomas Almeida in March. Due to O’Malley’s record, and because of his growing fanbase, there’s been extensive speculation about him facing a top bantamweight next.

Recently O’Malley appeared on The MMA Hour, and he reported the UFC approached him about fighting Frankie Edgar at UFC 268 in November. According to O’Malley, they turned down the bout, since his coach Tim Welch is competing in a jiu-jitsu tournament the November 6th weekend.

O’Malley also claimed that he didn’t turn down the Edgar fight due to financial reasons. But, the bantamweight also made it clear he’s targeting bigger purses from the UFC (quotes via MMA Fighting).

“I feel like I’m the main draw at 135, I’m the biggest name at 135,” O’Malley said. “So there’s a lot of sweet, sweet, interesting fights at 135 that I would love to be a part of. Obviously, I want to get paid fairly, but yeah, I think I’m not too far off from fighting for the title, main-eventing pay-per-views. … It depends. I really want to fight these three fights out and then start talking big names.

“I don’t think I should be main-eventing for the money I’m making right now. I think I should be getting paid more, so we’ll see.”

The Arizona fighter also had this to say about his relationship with the UFC.

“I really do plan on staying with the UFC. I think I belong in the UFC. But also if I’m going to get offered twice as much money to go do something else — I love boxing. We’ll see where it goes. Like I said, I love the UFC, they’ve been nothing but great to me. And I think after this contract is up, I don’t think they’ll have an issue paying me what I think I deserve. But we might be on a completely different mindset there. They might not think I’m worth half a million or whatever the number is. I’ve been on like five consecutive pay-per-views.”

O’Malley’s only loss to date came against Marlon Vera in August, 2020, who recorded a first-round, TKO win.