If the UFC returns to Japan, Sean O’Malley desires in.
The previous UFC bantamweight champion was a visitor fighter on the New 12 months’s Eve present RIZIN 49, which happened at Saitama Tremendous Area in Saitama, Japan.
The UFC hasn’t held an occasion in Japan since UFC Struggle Evening 117 in September 2017, however O’Malley (18-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) is curious about competing there in the event that they ever return.
“Proper now, clearly, I’m with the UFC,” O’Malley mentioned throughout a RIZIN media scrum (h/t MMA Combating). “I plan to be with the UFC endlessly. So, if the UFC comes right here sometime, I might like to combat on this enviornment. There’s a very good vitality right here.”
O’Malley was requested about competing below the Japanese ruleset, which he admitted wouldn’t be favorable for him.
“I seen after I went in there, the ring is so much softer than the UFC,” O’Malley mentioned. “The UFC platform is thinner. That will be somewhat bit totally different. The ruleset, for me, I really feel prefer it advantages me extra not with the ability to get kicked within the head as a result of I’m usually not the one above somebody. If I get taken down I’m often on my again. So, that might in all probability not be pretty much as good for me, however it might be fascinating.”
“The Suga Present” is at the moment on the mend after present process surgical procedure as a consequence of a torn left labrum – an harm he was coping with previous to dropping his bantamweight title to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306 this previous September.
“The manufacturing of the present was unbelievable, the vitality within the enviornment is unbelievable, the ring ladies are unbelievable,” O’Malley mentioned on the RIZIN 49 occasion. “General impression of Japan, this has been essentially the most enjoyable journey I’ve ever been on, and I might love to return again.”
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