Conor McGregor appears to end rivalry with UFC star
"Suga" Sean O'Malley fights on Saturday for the UFC bantamweight championship against Merab Dvalishvili in a rematch of their bout last September at UFC 306.
Ahead of UFC 316 this weekend, McGregor has been active on social media, lauding the American for his intense pre-fight prep, which includes a recreation of the upcoming fight, including walkouts, crowd noise and more.
The Crumlin fighter said that O'Malley's fight prep was "very reminiscent of my Diaz 2 prep", sparking memories of his hugely-anticipated rematch with Nate Diaz in August 2016, which he won after losing the first fight between the pair.
Speaking at the UFC 316 media day, O'Malley said "I'll forever be a huge Conor fan.
'I feel grateful to be able to watch his come up in my generation, I watched it happen. I think we'll look back, he had one of the craziest careers.
"It's cool to be able to watch it happen while I was getting into the UFC and everything. I'm pumped the relationship is back to good."
He also revealed that he was studying McGregor's fights among others in the build-up to the fight, saying "So I was watching Conor-Nate — I've just been watching a bunch of fights, we just have cameras recording so much, I didn't realize that was a moment that got captured"
"I've been watching a bunch of fights... I've always taken inspiration from Conor fights.
"I've watched Conor fights more than probably any [fights] — well [I watch] my fights more — but I've watched a lot of Conor fights.'
Big praise from the championship contender, as McGregor looks to return to the octagon himself.
A scheduled bout against Michael Chandler last summer was put on indefinite hold after The Notorious broke his toe in the build-up, meaning his last fight was a 2021 loss against Dustin Poirier where he broke his leg.
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