Brian Kelleher isn’t a fan of how Sean O’Malley handled his UFC 252 loss to Marlon Vera.
After the fight, O’Malley made it clear Vera did not beat him, but instead his ankle injury was the reason he lost. He also believed he was dominating the fight until his ankle gave out.
For Kelleher, he believes O’Malley needs to accept the loss but understands why he is doing this business-wise.
“I don’t like the way he handles the loss,” Kelleher said on MMAFighting’s A-Side. “Still putting Chito down, not really accepting it. But I do think that business-wise, he’s kind of doing this on purpose. I don’t know if he’s getting information from other guys that have done this in the past, but you know, you have people that love you, you make people hate you, and you have all areas covered as far as fanbase goes, and people that want to see you fight whether they want to see you win or lose.
“I think O’Malley’s kind of playing that role where he’s like, ‘Alright, I’m gonna make you hate me. I’m just gonna keep being brash and cocky and you know, I’m still undefeated. So F you, and I’m gonna keep being me’ type of thing. I don’t blame him for doing that, but I like to see a little bit more humble honesty when it comes to real true answers for facing defeat.”
When Sean O’Malley will return is to be seen, but Brian Kelleher says he would take that fight.
