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Sean O'Malley is bringing the "Suga Show" to the White House on June 14. The former UFC bantamweight champion won't be challenging for the title he once held, but he did receive the matchup he's sought since last year for the UFC's ambitious spring event at the U.S. capital.
Speaking Monday on "The Ariel Helwani Show," O'Malley revealed that he only found out about his fight with fellow contender Aiemann Zahabi roughly 10 days before the card was made official during Saturday's UFC 326 broadcast. Initially O'Malley had no hesitation, but he did need to clarify his health status after his recent win over Song Yadong when he spoke with UFC CBO Hunter Campbell.
"Hunter called me. He said, 'Are you injured?' I said, 'No.' He said that medicals said I broke my foot after the last fight. I was like, 'No, I'm good.' Then he was like, 'I'm glad I called because we're finalizing this White House card. You want on?' I said, 'Of f***ing course I want on,'" O'Malley told Uncrowned.
"He said, 'Alright, let me get back to you.' He called me back and he said, 'You want Aiemann?' I would love to fight Aiemann at the White House card. USA vs. Canada, it's great. I'm very, very, very excited for the opportunity to go out there and do my thing."
O'Malley, 31, has played a key role in several of the biggest UFC events since he arrived in the company nearly a decade ago. Chief among those shows is the recent launch of the UFC on Paramount era, when he scored a unanimous decision over Song at UFC 324 this past January.
Heading into that first UFC event of 2026, numerous questions remained unanswered as to how business dealings would or could change for fighters under UFC's new $7.7 billion rights deal. The most notable fighter pay changes so far have publicly come in the form of UFC's new bonus structure; other than that, plenty has yet to be determined. In O'Malley's case, he hasn't noticed any significant changes, and he even admitted he hasn't talked to Campbell about his pay for the upcoming White House bout.
UFC CEO Dana White and Zuffa Boxing also added fuel to the fire of the pay debate by signing rising boxing star Conor Benn to a reported one-fight, $15 million deal. Benn's signing has caused a stir throughout the MMA community, with UFC contenders such as Michael Page and Aljamain Sterling voicing concerns.
O'Malley understands his peers' perspectives, but he also isn't going to step on any toes.
"The whole fighter pay thing, it's like, everyone wants to make more money with whatever they're doing," O'Malley said. "I have a good relationship with the UFC, and I'm happy. I'm honored that they asked me to be on the White House card. It's going to be huge for me. I'm going to go out there, yeah, I'm going to make some money, whatever. But I'm going to go out there and build the 'Suga' brand. I want to go out there and put on a beautiful performance, knock people out, have people remember me. And hopefully that flows into making more money outside the UFC.
"You don't want to make enemies with the UFC. I don't get what people are doing. I saw that Tom Aspinall signed with the [Eddie] Hearn dude. It's like, I don't really know if that's a great idea either. You're going to have someone manage you that Dana doesn't really like or something. That doesn't seem very smart. But I'm f***ing not that smart, but that's how I see it."
As for O'Malley vs. Zahabi, there's a logic to it from a rankings perspective, but that doesn't mean fans and O'Malley's fellow contenders were overly thrilled. Cory Sandhagen, in particular, was at UFC 326 and has been clamoring for an O'Malley matchup since both became staples of the 135-pound division.
O'Malley believes the Sandhagen fight is still inevitable, despite it not coming to fruition this time around.
"I'm hearing the narrative that I'm ducking Cory," O'Malley said. "But I've been honest with you guys. I remember the last fight before I fought Song, I said I wanted to fight Aiemann and they offered me Song. It's not like I'm picking my fights, clearly. This fight, they offered me Aiemann and I said yes. They've never offered me Cory, I've never turned Corey down. That's that. It sucks to be Cory. I'm just thankful I'm not Cory. That would suck to be him."
Ultimately, O'Malley hoped for a rematch instead against his former foe, two-time champion Petr Yan.
"I wanted Petr at the White House," O'Malley said. "That's what I wanted. That's what I asked for. They said, 'You want Aiemann?' I said yes. But I did say I would prefer Petr at the White House. That would have been huge. UFC is doing what UFC does. We're fighting Aiemann. USA vs. Canada. He's on a seven-times-longer win streak than I'm on. I'll say that much."
O'Malley vs. Zahabi is one of four USA vs. foreigner bouts on the six-fight White House card.
A successful night for "Suga" would get him back on a win streak for the first time since he held the title in 2024. And while securing a victory is always more than enough pressure to motivate O'Malley, on a stage as unique as the White House, O'Malley knows there's more at stake for his fight career than usual.
"I feel pressure that I've got to go out there and represent for the United States," he said.
"I feel like I'm going to be expected to go out there and win this fight. I'll probably be a favorite. There's pressure right there, too. I put pressure on myself. I need to finish. It's been too long. Who is the last guy I knocked out? It's been too long. Almost three years."
Continue reading...
Speaking Monday on "The Ariel Helwani Show," O'Malley revealed that he only found out about his fight with fellow contender Aiemann Zahabi roughly 10 days before the card was made official during Saturday's UFC 326 broadcast. Initially O'Malley had no hesitation, but he did need to clarify his health status after his recent win over Song Yadong when he spoke with UFC CBO Hunter Campbell.
"Hunter called me. He said, 'Are you injured?' I said, 'No.' He said that medicals said I broke my foot after the last fight. I was like, 'No, I'm good.' Then he was like, 'I'm glad I called because we're finalizing this White House card. You want on?' I said, 'Of f***ing course I want on,'" O'Malley told Uncrowned.
"He said, 'Alright, let me get back to you.' He called me back and he said, 'You want Aiemann?' I would love to fight Aiemann at the White House card. USA vs. Canada, it's great. I'm very, very, very excited for the opportunity to go out there and do my thing."
O'Malley, 31, has played a key role in several of the biggest UFC events since he arrived in the company nearly a decade ago. Chief among those shows is the recent launch of the UFC on Paramount era, when he scored a unanimous decision over Song at UFC 324 this past January.
Heading into that first UFC event of 2026, numerous questions remained unanswered as to how business dealings would or could change for fighters under UFC's new $7.7 billion rights deal. The most notable fighter pay changes so far have publicly come in the form of UFC's new bonus structure; other than that, plenty has yet to be determined. In O'Malley's case, he hasn't noticed any significant changes, and he even admitted he hasn't talked to Campbell about his pay for the upcoming White House bout.
UFC CEO Dana White and Zuffa Boxing also added fuel to the fire of the pay debate by signing rising boxing star Conor Benn to a reported one-fight, $15 million deal. Benn's signing has caused a stir throughout the MMA community, with UFC contenders such as Michael Page and Aljamain Sterling voicing concerns.
O'Malley understands his peers' perspectives, but he also isn't going to step on any toes.
"The whole fighter pay thing, it's like, everyone wants to make more money with whatever they're doing," O'Malley said. "I have a good relationship with the UFC, and I'm happy. I'm honored that they asked me to be on the White House card. It's going to be huge for me. I'm going to go out there, yeah, I'm going to make some money, whatever. But I'm going to go out there and build the 'Suga' brand. I want to go out there and put on a beautiful performance, knock people out, have people remember me. And hopefully that flows into making more money outside the UFC.
"You don't want to make enemies with the UFC. I don't get what people are doing. I saw that Tom Aspinall signed with the [Eddie] Hearn dude. It's like, I don't really know if that's a great idea either. You're going to have someone manage you that Dana doesn't really like or something. That doesn't seem very smart. But I'm f***ing not that smart, but that's how I see it."
As for O'Malley vs. Zahabi, there's a logic to it from a rankings perspective, but that doesn't mean fans and O'Malley's fellow contenders were overly thrilled. Cory Sandhagen, in particular, was at UFC 326 and has been clamoring for an O'Malley matchup since both became staples of the 135-pound division.
O'Malley believes the Sandhagen fight is still inevitable, despite it not coming to fruition this time around.
"I'm hearing the narrative that I'm ducking Cory," O'Malley said. "But I've been honest with you guys. I remember the last fight before I fought Song, I said I wanted to fight Aiemann and they offered me Song. It's not like I'm picking my fights, clearly. This fight, they offered me Aiemann and I said yes. They've never offered me Cory, I've never turned Corey down. That's that. It sucks to be Cory. I'm just thankful I'm not Cory. That would suck to be him."
Ultimately, O'Malley hoped for a rematch instead against his former foe, two-time champion Petr Yan.
"I wanted Petr at the White House," O'Malley said. "That's what I wanted. That's what I asked for. They said, 'You want Aiemann?' I said yes. But I did say I would prefer Petr at the White House. That would have been huge. UFC is doing what UFC does. We're fighting Aiemann. USA vs. Canada. He's on a seven-times-longer win streak than I'm on. I'll say that much."
O'Malley vs. Zahabi is one of four USA vs. foreigner bouts on the six-fight White House card.
A successful night for "Suga" would get him back on a win streak for the first time since he held the title in 2024. And while securing a victory is always more than enough pressure to motivate O'Malley, on a stage as unique as the White House, O'Malley knows there's more at stake for his fight career than usual.
"I feel pressure that I've got to go out there and represent for the United States," he said.
"I feel like I'm going to be expected to go out there and win this fight. I'll probably be a favorite. There's pressure right there, too. I put pressure on myself. I need to finish. It's been too long. Who is the last guy I knocked out? It's been too long. Almost three years."
Continue reading...
