O’Malley Admits Trying To Emulate McGregor – ‘I Got Lost’

Sean O’Malley has admitted that he tried too much to emulate Conor McGregor.

O’Malley has long drawn comparisons to McGregor, given their outspoken nature and striking abilities. Sean stated that he initially viewed McGregor as a role model, admiring his bold persona. However, O’Malley now feels drifted too much from his personality. This comes in light of O’Malley’s recent losses where he came up short against Merab Dvalishvili on two occasions.

The first was at UFC 306, as Merab won a one-sided unanimous decision to become the UFC Bantamweight Champion, ending Sean’s reign. The same happened in their next fight at UFC 316, where Merab secured a submission win. While Sean has said he feels he can beat Merab in a third fight, he needs to get back to a comfortable position, having admitted trying to be someone who he isn’t. 

“One hundred percent (I viewed McGregor as a role model). The way he carried himself into fights, the confidence to say what he thought was going to happen – ‘I’m going to knock this dude out in Round 2.’ I got a lot out of that. I was like, ‘OK, I can be confident like that.’ I feel like I got lost, almost, in a sense, where I wanted to be like Conor too much instead of being like myself,” O’Malley said 

The Comparisons

While there are some parallels, there are fundamental differences. McGregor’s game is built on his precision counter-striking and devastating left hand. He relies on his ability to read an opponent’s movements and land a pinpoint-accurate shot that ends the fight. Prime examples include his 13-second knockout of Jose Aldo and his TKO of Eddie Alvarez to become a two-division champion.

In contrast, O’Malley’s striking is built on fluidity, volume, and unpredictability. He uses a wide array of kicks, spinning attacks, and feints to keep his opponents guessing. He often switches stances and uses his range to land a high volume of strikes that wear opponents down before he lands the finishing blow. His wins over Raulian Paiva and Thomas Almeida, where he landed a high volume of strikes to set up a finish, are prime examples. 

McGregor’s rise to the top was a meteoric, uninterrupted streak of success. He tore through the featherweight division, knocking out every top contender he faced and culminating in the fastest title-fight knockout in UFC history against Jose Aldo. He then moved up in weight to become the first-ever simultaneous two-division champion. 

O’Malley’s career, however, has been more of a rollercoaster. While he had a similar undefeated run at the start, he has faced setbacks that McGregor never did at his peak. The loss to Marlon Vera, where he suffered a foot injury, was an early reality check. More recently, his two losses to Merab Dvalishvili have exposed clear holes in his game.