Sean O'Malley did not realize how popular his nickname was when he first got it.
Over the years, 'Suga' Sean O'Malley has quickly become one of the most recognizable faces in not only the UFC, but also combat sports in general.
From his colorful hair and tattoos to his viral knockouts on the way to a title run, the former UFC Bantamweight Champion built a successful brand on social media, with a considerable number of the following.
O'Malley comes from a title fight for rival Merab Dvalishvili on UFC 316 in June, where he suffered a loss of the entry of the third round to the champion.
Months removed from the non-so-sweet setback, O'Malley was asked about the first time he was called 'Suga', a name that was synonymous with boxing legends Sugar Ray Robinson, Sugar Ray Leonard, Sugar Shane Mosley and UFC Hall of Famer 'Suga' Rashad Evans.
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Sean O'Malley says that his first coach called him “Suga” because he was “so sweet to look at”
Before he joined Tim Welch in Arizona, O'Malley said that his first coach Johnny Aho was in Montana. There he got his nickname 'Suga'.
“Johnny, he is a character,” said O'Malley among rounds.
“He is an absolute character. I got some skill from him, but I got a lot of confidence from him. He is so, I don't care if you are fighting against juice [Georges St-Pierre]. At that time I did not know who GSP was … but he just gave me so much confidence in fighting. “
O'Malley said that Aho called him “Suga” when he was an 18-year prospect.
“He said I was so sweet to look at. And it kept holding a bit,” O'Malley revealed.
'Okay, I like it …' Suga '.
“And there was a lot of 'sugars' at the time, but I didn't really realize that I wasn't looking at boxing,” O'Malley continued.
“I hardly looked at UFC. Like, Tim would always laugh at me, because when I first went down, he is something like three champions in the UFC. And I had something like that from Jon Jones, almost everything [I knew].
“I didn't look at fighting, which is always quite weird. I didn't look at boxing. I didn't look at UFC. I liked the sport, but I never looked at it.”
Sean O'Malley wishes him to have struggled in high school
In the first place a striker, O'Malley had exposed his ground game by Dvalishvili in his last two fights.
'Suga' was not really an athlete that grew up. O'Malley played basketball in high school instead of wrestling, that was in the same season.
Now looking back on it, O'Malley says that he should probably have struggled.
“I am like hehe, look at those losers,” said O'Malley when he thought about becoming a member of the wrestling team in high school.
“I remember playing basketball and seeing the wrestlers running up and down the stairs, doing hard training, such as, thank goodness, I am not them.
“For whatever reason, I didn't think hard work, had no big mindset to go into practice or to compete at my highest level.
“If I could have struggled in high school, it would have been that way, so useful …”