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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Sean O’Malley is anxiously awaiting his chance to ascend to the top spot in the UFC hierarchy with plans to supplant Conor McGregor sooner than later as the biggest superstar in the company.

As he prepares to headline the historic UFC 306 card from Sphere in Las Vegas — an event UFC CEO Dana White has repeatedly stated is a one and done after spending more than $ 20 million on production — O’Malley knows all eyes are going to be on him come Saturday night. Ever since his viral performance on The Contender Series, O’Malley has continued to grow and evolve as a fan favorite with his popularity truly exploding over these past few years.

Meanwhile, McGregor hasn’t fought in over three years after suffering a broken leg in his last outing, and there’s still no official word when he might fight again, although early 2025 is the latest estimation. Of course, O’Malley has no problem conceding that McGregor remains the biggest draw in the UFC right now but he expects that to change with one more bad result for the former two-division champion.

“I think I’m very close,” O’Malley said about becoming the biggest star in the UFC during UFC 306 media day on Wednesday. “I think Conor’s still got one more big fight in him because of the big question mark — can Conor come back, can he actually beat [Michael] Chandler? So I think Conor’s got one more huge fight.”

With a 1-3 record in his past four fights and a huge amount of inactivity on top of returning from such a devastating injury, McGregor has a lot to prove when he finally competes again.

Add to that, he’s also 36 now so youth is no longer on his side.

O’Malley can’t help but wonder if another loss wouldn’t just hammer that final nail into McGregor’s coffin as the biggest superstar on the entire UFC roster.

“If he goes out there and loses his next fight, it will be like six in a row,” O’Malley said. “It’s got to die down eventually. Maybe not. That just tests how big of a star he is, but I would assume he goes out there, he loses, I’m there. I’m the guy. I’m the No. 1.”

As far as what separates him from McGregor in terms of overall appeal with fans, O’Malley didn’t mince words with his availability to stay active versus “The Notorious” only competing four times in the UFC since 2016.

Meanwhile, O’Malley is preparing for his 16th professional fight during that same timespan with his third title bout scheduled in the past 13 months.

“I bring fights,” O’Malley said when differentiating himself from McGregor. “I fight. Often. I think that’s what it is right now.

“Conor was good on the mic, the accent, the words that he chose, he was very good on the mic. Performances, he had a couple good performances, but I’m just consistent right now. I’m fighting a lot. That’s what I bring.”

O’Malley obviously hopes to bring another jaw-dropping performance on Saturday in the second defense of his UFC bantamweight title when he faces Merab Dvalishvili.

The colorful champion has promised to deliver a stunning finish, which would only further cement his standing as perhaps the new face of the UFC>

“It could be first [round], could be second,” O’Malley predicted for his finish at UFC 306. “I could knock out Merab first, second, third, fourth or fifth. But I am leaning towards the second a little bit.”

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Conor McGregor is already back to “heavy training.”

That’s according to SBG Ireland head coach John Kavanagh, who is advising “Notorious” while the former two-division champion peddles Forged Irish Stout to overseas breweries. Part of those preparations include video swaps for expert review and analysis.

Doesn’t get any heavier than that.

“We’re already in heavy training, although we’re training remotely together at the moment, he’s stateside on I believe a Forged Irish Stout tour,” Kavanagh told Lucky Block. “He’s visiting a couple of breweries over there and partners, etcetera, but we’re still sending each other training videos, training plans.”

Let’s hope part of the plan is avoiding another leg break.

McGregor was pushing for a December return after recovering from a devastating pinky toe injury, but UFC CEO Dana White does not expect to see “Notorious” back inside the cage until some point in early 2025, right when this new deal takes effect.

“He’s got some training partners over there and the footage I’m getting back, he shared some of it recently, he’s looking very sharp to me,” Kavanagh continued. “If the date was in December, it would be a green light for me anyway.”

Stay the course, Mr. Chandler.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Mike Goldberg can picture a scenario where he works with the UFC again.

The veteran combat sports broadcaster’s working relationship with the promotion came to an end in 2016 following the $ 4 billion sale of the UFC’s parent company Zuffa, LLC to the Endeavor group. Goldberg had called fights for the UFC for almost 20 years, but would not be part of its plans going forward.

In an appearance on the JAXXON podcast, Goldberg recalled the bitter disappointment he felt when he was relieved of his octagon-side duties.

“The sale still bums me out because I think I was one of the pieces that should have continued, but it’s not for me to decide… people know what we’ve gone through, but I’m not going to be a f*cking whiner about it,” Goldberg said. “Nobody wants to hear that, because that just brings down anybody else’s level.

“Obviously, I was smashed, I was heartbroken, because I helped build that product as a soundtrack. It just became a time in which I just wanted to keep on the voyage and I’m glad I did because I saw the world in my days with the UFC.”

Goldberg has continued to work in broadcast, most recently calling fights for Dada 5000’s BYB Extreme Bare Knuckle boxing promotion. He also worked with Bellator MMA from 2017-2021.

An iconic voice that was part of several of the UFC’s most memorable moments, Goldberg spoke glowingly of his relationship with longtime commentary partner Joe Rogan. His relationship with UFC executives Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta and Dana White is more complicated.

“Not really,” Goldberg said when asked if he still keeps in touch with his former bosses. “I can’t find Lorenzo now. If you think about it, other than a few fights, he’s just gone on to the next. If I saw him, it would be a very pleasurable conversation. With Dana, I don’t know, he liked to pick on me a little bit. I always felt like I toed the company line. If Dana said this is what we’re going to do, we’re not going to talk about losses, I never argued, ‘That’s not journalistically correct.’

“I don’t know, but I’d be honored to do it again, and I have huge respect for Dana. But who knows? I don’t think he hates me, but we’re not pen pals.”

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

The UFC 306 media day will feature 10 fighters from Saturday’s UFC event.

The UFC 306 media day is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. ET.

Below is the tentative schedule:

1 p.m. ET: Ode Osborne

1:30 p.m.: Esteban Ribovics

1:55 p.m.: Merab Dvalishvili

2:20 p.m.: Valentina Shevchenko

2:45 p.m.: Diego Lopes

3:10 p.m: Daniel Zellhuber

3:30 p.m.: Alexa Grasso

3:45 p.m.: Sean O’Malley

4:15 p.m.: Brian Ortega

4:30 p.m.: Ronaldo Rodriguez

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