Ricky Simon Roasts Sean O’Malley after UFC 264 Short-Notice Fight Snub
UFC bantamweight Sean O’Malley finally has a new opponent for his upcoming main card bout at UFC 264, and fellow bantamweight Ricky Simon is not happy that he was passed up for the short-notice fight.
O’Malley was originally supposed to fight Louis Smolka at UFC 264 before Smolka had to withdraw from the bout due to an undisclosed injury. Just hours after the news broke, a plethora of UFC fighters put their names in the hat to fight against O’Malley, one of UFC’s biggest rising stars.
Simon was one of the first who made his voice heard in regards to his interest to fight O’Malley. According to O’Malley, the two sides agreed to the bout but Simon allegedly declined to fight him because he didn’t want to cut all the way down to 135 pounds on two weeks notice.
Shortly after O’Malley was paired up with Kris Moutinho for the upcoming pay-per-view, Simon expressed his frustration over the matter.
“Smart move, control the narrative,” Simon tweeted. “Pretend to accept so it doesn’t look as bad when you get a lesser opponent. I’ve been tested, I’ll be around.”
A fight between O’Malley and Simon would’ve been highly entertaining due to Simon’s name value as a veteran in the bantamweight division, and O’Malley rising stock in the UFC. Ultimately, the promotion opted to go with with Moutinho, who will make his UFC debut after fighting in smaller promotions such as CES and CFFC.
O’Malley is coming off of his win over Thomas Almeida earlier this year at UFC 260. Before that, he had suffered his first loss in the UFC to Marlon Vera after winning his first four bouts on the sport’s biggest stage.
Simon has won three in a row in the UFC’s bantamweight and featherweight divisions, the latest coming against Brian Kelleher in a featherweight bout at UFC 258.
Do you think a fight between Sean O’Malley and Ricky Simon would’ve been an entertaining fight?
