After beating Chito Vera in his last bout, Sean O’Malley certainly isn’t resting on his laurels as he is building a 4,000-square-foot warehouse with a full-sized UFC Octagon inside his property so he can train as much as he wants without leaving home.
UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley is currently enjoying the spoils of his latest victory. The 29-year-old from Helena, Montana knocked back the challenge of rival Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera at UFC 299 to retain his title.
O’Malley earned a whopping $310,000 (~$474,796 AUD) including a $155,000 ($233,000 AUD) win bonus. Suga also took home another $50,000 (~$76,000) for winning Performance of the Night honours… and has come up with a unique way to spend it.
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With that windfall, most fighters would buy a new car or jewellery but in O’Malley’s case, he is enjoying his spoils by building his own training facility inside his property. And that includes a full-sized UFC Octagon.
“I building a full-size Octagon here. I kinda laid out where the octagon is gonna be so you can get the idea. Got a full-size Octagon on here. Weightlifting s**t. So I got a nice 4,000 square foot warehouse I just built.”
Sean O’Malley
Training is arguably the most important part of being a UFC fighter, much more a champion. While fighters spend 15 to 25 minutes fighting inside the cage on the night of the fight, these gladiators spend hours in the gym for months preparing for their moment of glory.
Currently, O’Malley trains at The MMA Lab in Glendale, Arizona. The gym opened in 2006 under companies owned by the legendary Royce Gracie and Jason Beck. Beck later brought in Jon Crouch who is now O’Malley’s head trainer.
There are no indications whatsoever that O’Malley could be leaving The MMA Lab to train at home because he is happy with how his career is panning out. But certainly, having your own training facility helps a lot in a fighter’s preparation, and for O’Malley, it could potentially lead him to greatness.
O’Malley has been trying to lure newly-crowned UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria to a super fight. However, it’s more likely that the UFC will pit Suga against the current No.1 contender Merab Dvalishili in another title defence. Merab has racked up 10 straight wins, including consecutive victories over former champions Jose Aldo, Petr Yan, and Henry Cejudo in his last three bouts.