As recently as the turn of the decade, it would have been hard to imagine the star power predicament the UFC now finds itself in.
If “Suga” Sean O’Malley were to re-establish himself as the sport’s marquee personality and start a hot streak on Saturday, the UFC would have completed its first significant step toward re-establishing itself as a star-driven phenomenon. That’s a requirement for the long-term prosperity of any combat sports entity. Just ask Jake Paul. Personalities sell fights more than fighting sells fights.
It’s reasonable to suggest that the UFC was on pace to become the dominant force in American sports culture with the momentum it cultivated throughout the latter half of the 2010s. Anchored by a bona fide pay-per-view draw in Conor McGregor and a roster full of name-brand talent, the combat sports empire was continuously setting viewership records through 2021.
The UFC’s identity shifted precisely when McGregor’s ankle snapped in his second bout against Dustin Poirier in July of that year. McGregor, who has eight of the 10 highest-selling pay-per-view main events in UFC history, has yet to return to the octagon since.
No longer a company carried by one fighter, the UFC now relies on packed cards instead of blockbuster fights. This philosophy appeases the sport’s biggest fans on a week-in, week-out basis, but it doesn’t allow the sport to establish the cultural staying power that it once had in the American attention market.
Following O’Malley’s initial UFC bantamweight title win against Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292 in August 2023, “Suga” was on a fast track to taking over as the face of the company for the remainder of the decade.
“He’s on his way (to being one of the biggest stars of all time),” White said after O’Malley’s lone title defense against Chito Vera at UFC 299. “He’s the biggest star ever in bantamweight history. We can say that right now.”
The UFC invested in him as such, making his initial bout against Merab Dvalishvili the headlining fight at the company’s highly anticipated multibillion-dollar foray at Las Vegas’ Sphere.
Whatever fast track O’Malley was on was halted that September night, as Dvalishvili snuffed him out in front of the most expensive crowd in UFC history and controlled just about the entire fight. O’Malley, typically known for the fireworks he can provide in the striking game, was completely uninspiring.
The UFC relied on O’Malley to shine in its most anticipated event of the decade and gave him the chance to cement himself as the company’s biggest star. He failed. Miserably. Still, White was reluctant to blame the moment for O’Malley’s shortcoming.
“He looked flat,” White said after UFC 306. “He didn’t look sharp, he didn’t look crisp. I don’t know (if the hype affected him), but I think he’s one of those kids who lives for moments like this.”
White often says he’s in the business of selling “oh s—” moments, and he relies on fighters like O’Malley to deliver. As of late, the UFC’s marquee stars — including Alex Pereira and the stagnant Jon “Bones” Jones — have done the opposite. In 2025, you can reasonably argue that White himself is MMA’s biggest star and that the sport’s most memorable moments within the last 12 months almost exclusively consisted of the president of the United States showing up front row.
With Pereira’s loss at UFC 313 in March and Jones’ refusal to fight top heavyweight contender Tom Aspinall, O’Malley again has the opportunity to establish himself as the face of the company — even in spite of his embarrassing loss in September.
O’Malley claims he was too caught up in the rockstar-esque “Suga” persona leading up to that loss against Dvalishvili. As a result, O’Malley quit both marijuana and social media in preparation for his bout at UFC 316 — two things that were synonymous with the “Suga” experience.
“I just wanted less distractions in my life, in general,” O’Malley said in a UFC promotional video. “I was too attached to this character, and it was pulling me out of who I am on a day-to-day basis. I want to dedicate everything I have to the sport, because I truly believe I can be one of the greatest of all time.
“To do that, my higher self guided me toward more family time and less pointless s—.”
If O’Malley really has cut out the distractions and is focused on becoming the transcendent talent he has the potential to be, it’s hard to imagine Saturday’s rematch having the same outcome as September’s disappointment. It’s even harder to imagine an O’Malley victory not being the UFC’s preferred outcome — although they could never admit as much.
