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UFC bantamweight title challenger Sean O’Malley would like to share some of his thoughts regardin women’s MMA. While he gets ready to take on Aljamain Sterling for the title in August, ‘Suga’ got into discussing the role of female athletes in the promotion in the latest episode of his podcast TimboSugarShow podcast.
Could the UFC make a women’s league work?
The conversation started when O’Malley’s coach Tim Welch brought up a since then deleted tweet from UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, who said that MMA was not a sport for women. While Suga was in favor of women having their place in the sport, he did wonder whether the UFC could have them under a different brand.
O’Malley seemed entertained by the thought of whether or not UFC president Dana White could make the new company as successful.
“What if there was a ‘WUFC’?” Sean O’Malley said (transcribed by MMA Fighting). “What if they had their own program? Would it last? Would they be able to sell pay-per-views, would they be able to sell out arenas? I’m just asking. What if it was the ‘WUFC’? It’s still the UFC, it’s still Dana, it’s still the UFC pushing these fights and promoting them – would it last?”
Sean O’Malley compares the idea to the WNBA
As O’Malley delved deeper into his thoughts, he once again emphasized how he was not against women competing in mixed martial arts. However, Suga compared the idea of a separate promotion to already existing female leagues such as the NBA and its female counterpart, the WNBA.
For the 28-year-old, the challenge of trying to make an exclusively for women MMA promotion sounds like an interesting puzzle from an entertainment point of view.
“We’re not saying they’re bad,” Sean O’Malley explained. “We’re talking from a pure entertainment point of view. Look at the WNBA, look at the NBA. There is a few girls fights that are very entertaining. There is a few…”
“WNBA – WUFC, I’d like it. I think it’d be interesting… We’re not talking skill, they’re very, very skilled. I’m talking from a pure entertainment perspective. Like, ‘I can’t f****** wait for this fight.’”
Sean O’Malley is fighting for the title at UFC 292
Undefeated in his last five outings, with four victories and a No Contest, Sean O’Malley earned a title shot after his most recent victory, when he defeated former champion Petr Yan via split decision in October 2022. Before that, the 28-year-old scored knockout wins over Thomas Almeida, Kris Moutinho and Raulian Paiva, while his match against Pedron Munhos ended with no result due to a accidental eye poke that left the Brazilian unable to continue.
Now, O’Malley is expected to face Aljamain Sterling for the bantamweight title at UFC 292‘s main event, in Boston, Massachusetts. The August 19 card is scheduled to be co-headlined by a fight for the strawweight title between champion Weili Zhang and challenger Amanda Lemos.
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