UFC bantamweight star Sean O’Malley admitted that he was upset to have not received a big bonus following his win at UFC Freedom 250.
O’Malley knocked out Aiemann Zahabi in the second round in spectacular fashion on the White House lawn. After dropping Zahabi with a massive punch, O’Malley saluted the troops while the referee stepped in to stop the fight, which was a very cool visual, and one that O’Malley thought could help contribute to him getting a bonus.
But when UFC president Dana White announced the post-fight bonuses, O’Malley was not one of the recipients of the biggest bonus checks in UFC history, and he’s not happy about it.
Sean O’Malley Upset He Was Snubbed for Bonus
Speaking to the MMA Guru after UFC Freedom 250, O’Malley admitted that he was upset the UFC did not award him with a $425,000 bonus for Performance of the Night. Instead of O’Malley getting the bonus, the UFC gave the award to Justin Gaethje and Ciryl Gane, while Gaethje received another bonus of $400,000 for Fight of the Night, as did his dance partner, Ilia Topuria.
After being snubbed of the bonus in his mind, O’Malley vented his frustrations.
“Then we did a (expletive) pointless press conference where I didn’t get a bonus, and it was (expletive) ridiculous. I was just telling (coach Tim Welch), like these wins feel good. Like it feels good, but if I would have lost, those are just so much worse than wins. It’s like, why even do this (expletive)?” O’Malley said (via MMAjunkie.com).
While it’s certainly not the $425,000 bonus that O’Malley had hoped for, he did receive a $25,000 finish bonus.
Plus, he got to redeem himself on a massive card, after he laid an egg when he fought Merab Dvalishvili at the UFC Sphere in 2024, a fight where he lost his UFC bantamweight title.
“It felt like I got to redeem myself from the Sphere fight. That Sphere fight, very time it gets brought up, ‘Oh, you fought at the Sphere.’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, well kind of.’ It’s just like now I feel like I got to redeem myself, and it felt good,” O’Malley said.
What’s Next for Sean O’Malley?
The win over Zahabi helped O’Malley jump up one spot over Umar Nurmagomedov in the UFC rankings when the latest update was released on Tuesday.
Right now, UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan is at the top of the food chain, with Dvalishvili right behind him as the No. 1 contender. Then, at No. 2, O’Malley sits, meaning he’s in a prime position to challenge for the UFC bantamweight title in his next bout.
The UFC has told Dvalishvili that he will be next to fight Yan when he returns to the cage later this year, but O’Malley should be next in line to fight the winner of that trilogy bout, and he could even be the backup fighter for it, just in case something happens.
O’Malley could also fight once more in the meantime and make some more cash, but with a title shot all but wrapped up, he may not want to risk it.
Adam Martin Adam Martin is a sports journalist with over 15 years of experience. He has a speciality in MMA, while also covering the Big 4 Sports. Adam is currently a contributor to Heavy.com, with previous experience working for The Toronto Star, Sportsnet, theScore, Bookies, BJPenn.com, and MMAOddsbreaker.com. More about Adam Martin
