1 of the best UFC fighters to come out of DWCS Season 1 & 1 of the worst
- Dana White's Contender Series has been around since 2017
- Throughout it's six seasons, it's produced some major stars
- But it's also found some duds.
By Amy Kaplan
Best signing: Sean O'Malley
"Welcome to the Suga' Show!"
— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) August 14, 2023
Where it all started for @SugaSeanMMA... pic.twitter.com/KD6swZpYyp
It wouldn't take a brain surgeon to know who the best signing of season one was. Perhaps this name might even be the best signing from the who six seasons of the show thus far.
Sean O'Malley earned his contract on episode two of the show which took place on July 18, 2027. He was the only fighter on the card to earn a contract that night despite three other finishes.
O'Malley fought Alfred Khashakyan who he knocked out impressively in the very first round.
Part of O'Malley's success he contributes to having Snopp Dogg on the mic.
“It’s crazy how my career has played out. That was the beginning of the craziness. Snoop Dogg is commentating on my fight when I was 21, 22 on the Contender Series," O’Malley told The Breakfast Club. "It’s the first time they’ve done it. I knock that dude out, and he yells ‘O’Malley’ like 30 times. That was crazy.”
After getting signed, O'Malley lost just one fight, a first-round knockout at the hands of Marlon Vera in 2020. On Aug. 19, 2023, O'Malley became the UFC bantamweight champion when he knocked out Aljamain Sterling. The win made him the second DWCS alumnus in history to hold a UFC title.
He is set to fight Vera in a rematch to avenge his only loss next month at UFC 299.
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