Sean O’Malley thinks Ricky Simon blew his biggest chance.
This Saturday night (July 10), O’Malley will collide with Kris Moutinho. The bout will be featured on the main card of UFC 264. Initially, the “Sugar” Show was expected to meet Louis Smolka. Moutinho stepped in after Smolka suffered an injury.
Moutinho wasn’t the UFC’s first choice if O’Malley is to be believed. O’Malley says he wanted to throw down with Simon, who was on board with the idea. On social media, Simon said he had no trouble fighting O’Malley on two weeks’ notice.
O’Malley claimed that Simon didn’t take the fight because he couldn’t make weight. During a media scrum ahead of UFC 264, O’Malley said he was intrigued by Simon since he was a wrestler but that chance has come and gone.
“People want to see me get wrestled, they don’t wanna see me wrestle. Yeah, I don’t know. I’m 26 years old, I got 10 years in the UFC. We’re gonna see me fight a wrestler. That was one of the reasons I picked Simon. His game plan is to lay on you and I wanted to go out there and put his lights out.
“He missed a huge opportunity. He could’ve even said, ‘I’m gonna make ’35,’ came and missed weight, still gets to fight me on the biggest card. Still gets knocked out but gets to fight me. Yeah, I got 10 years of fighting. We’re gonna see me fight a wrestler.”
O’Malley said he has someone in mind for his next opponent if he gets past Moutinho. While he didn’t reveal who that opponent is, he made it clear that it won’t be Simon.
UFC 264 will be headlined by a trilogy fight between Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor. Stick with MMA News for live coverage of the event this weekend.
