Sean O’Malley signs ‘very gracious’ eight-fight deal with the UFC; ‘I have earned this contract’

Sean O’Malley will be sticking with the UFC for many more years to come.

The No. 1 ranked bantamweight contender revealed on his YouTube channel that he recently signed a brand new eight-fight contract with the promotion. While he didn’t get everything he asked for, ‘Sugar’ received what he described as a “very gracious” contract.

“Even if I do fight Aljo next I don’t get pay-per-view points,” O’Malley revealed. “That was something I talked about in the negotiations. I tried to get it, you know, pay-per-view points not being the champ, didn’t fly, but I will say I did resign with the UFC,” he explained. “A very gracious contract that I’m proud of. I offered that, I asked for this, they said no, they said yes. I said well, they said huh, and I got a number that I’m very happy with. And I truly don’t think any manager that I had could have went in there and got me what I got.”

Sean O’Malley Eyeing Potential Fights With Aljamain Sterling or Henry Cejudo

With contract negotiations now taken care of, O’Malley can resume discussions regarding his next bout inside the Octagon. In October, ‘Sugar’ skyrocketed from outside the bantamweight division’s top-10 spot to the No. 1 with a closely contested split decision victory over former 135-pound champion Petr Yan. Since then, O’Malley has been itching to get back inside the cage with proposed fights against UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling or the returning Olympic gold medalist Henry Cejudo.

“It also helps the relationship I’ve built with the UFC,” O’Malley continued. “I feel like I have earned this contract. This is what I feel I’ve earned, the amount that I’m getting paid. And I think the UFC, I think they’re fine with paying people what they earn,” he said. “I feel like I’m in a good position with the UFC and I’m getting paid what I earn. I’m very happy with how the negotiations went” (h/t MiddleEasy).

With the exception of a first-round TKO loss to Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera in 2020, Sean O’Malley has practically walked through every fighter that has stood across from him. At UFC 280, ‘Sugar’ took a huge step up in competition against Petr Yan. O’Malley came out on top, though the victory did come with a pinch of controversy as many within the MMA community believe Yan did more than enough to earn the W.