Sean O’Malley won't serve as UFC 288 backup fighter: F*** that

• UFC

UFC 288 brings us a great match between Henry Cejudo and Aljamain Sterling. Both fighters are great, and we hope to see a real spectacle. Sean O'Malley turned down the offer to be a replacement fighter in this fight, and speaking on the TimboSugarShow, O'Malley explained his decision: “I was really planning on being backup for Henry-Aljo,” -O’Malley said, as quoted by mmafighting.com “Now we’re at the point where it is so — go and doing a camp, five five-[minute rounds].

Planning on a fight is hard enough to do knowing you have a fight, but knowing you’re probably not going to fight, I can’t train the same way. And I don’t feel like I’m in a position where I’m like, ‘Well, it’s my only opportunity, I need to be a backup.’ I was trying, but now I’m to the point where I’m like, f*** that.

If one of those dorks pull out, reschedule it”.

Sean O'Malley

O'Malley believes that hard training is a waste of time if you are not sure that you are in for a fight. He emphasized that it is difficult to be disciplined in such conditions.

“I need a real eight weeks where I know I’m fighting. It’s just too hard to go be that disciplined. You can’t be that disciplined all the time. There’s a certain level of disciplined you can be in camp, and that’s why you feel like a f****** superhuman when you’re in there, because the way you’ve lived the last eight weeks, whatever it is.

But I’m to the point where, they’re five weeks out to the fight, if I got the call I’d be like, ‘I’m not ready to do five f****** fives.’ I haven’t been doing every possible thing that I could be doing. So I’m pulling out from backup fighter. I never officially was, but breaking news”.