Sean O’Malley Wants to ‘Get Paid What I Feel I’m Worth’ Following KO Victory

THE WALK OFF KO FOR THE SUGA SHOW #UFC250 pic.twitter.com/JLmsnfGadr

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) June 7, 2020

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Add Sean O'Malley to the growing list of fighters who have issues with their current pay grade in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

O’Malley opened the UFC 250 pay-per-view main card in style, when he knocked veteran foe Eddie Wineland unconscious 1:54 into the opening round of their bantamweight encounter. The Dana White’s Contender Series alum is now 4-0 in the Octagon, and he looks the part of a rising star in the Las Vegas-based promotion.

In the past week, both Jon Jones and Jorge Masvidal have expressed a lack of satisfaction with money offered for upcoming fights. Jones wanted a raise to move up to heavyweight to face Francis Ngannou, while Masvidal claimed he was offered less money for a bout with reigning welterweight king Kamaru Usman than he was for his ‘BMF’ title fight against Nate Diaz last November.

O’Malley acknowledged that he isn’t on the level of Jones or Masvidal, but he does believe fairness should play a role.

“I think our situation is probably a little different. Those guys have had big fights, a lot of fights and big wins,” O’Malley told media following UFC 250. “I’m not asking for a lot. What I’m asking for is still less than everyone made tonight. I just want it to be fair. I think the whole week was kind of about the ‘Sugar’ show. I was supposed to renegotiate after I knocked out Jose, but it didn’t happen.”

O’Malley earned $70,000 for the aforementioned knockout of Jose Alberto Quinonez at UFC 248 in March, and according to preliminary purse reports, took home $80,000 for his finish of Wineland.

“It sucks that I have to bring that stuff up and it has to be about money. It shouldn’t have to be,” O’Malley said. “It should be pretty fair. I think it should be something that we all agree on. I definitely just want to get paid what I feel I’m worth.”

After back-to-back knockout victories, O’Malley believes he also may be ready to carry a card in his next promotional appearance.

“It’s kind of up to the UFC. A main event almost sounds right,” he said. “It sounds like something that should probably get done. We’ll see. Hopefully I’ll sit down with [matchmaker] Sean Shelby and we’ll figure out what’s next, but hopefully a main event sounds nice.”