Is Sean O'Malley Mexican?

Introduction

Sean O’Malley; The Sugar Show; Sugar; Suga; undefeated; current UFC Bantamweight Champion – whatever you want to call him – is set to make his second title defense against Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306

UFC 306 will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada on September 14 (2024). Along with the excitement and prestige that surrounds the night of a world championship title fight, this event may hold additional significance for fans of a certain cultural background.

The UFC looks to honor Mexican Independence Day, along with Riyadh Season. UFC 306 will be known as “Riyadh Season Noche UFC”, to celebrate Mexican fighters and their contributions to combat sports, as demonstrated through their fighting spirit, incredible toughness, sharp skills, and the passionate Mexican fans they continue to attract.

Mexican Main Event at UFC Noche

With this being said, fans are wondering if the UFC should have a Mexican fighter in the main event, to headline a card that is so heavily focused around Mexican culture and contributions to combat sports. Well, they do… kind of… it’s complicated

In an interview with Ariel Helwani on the MMA Hour (back in February), O’Malley discussed his upcoming fight against Marlon “Chito” Vera (who Sean ended up defeating a month later on March 9) and Ilia Topuria’s most recent performance, where he knocked out Alexander “The Great” Volkanovski to win the UFC Featherweight Championship.

During this discussion, Sean hinted at fighting on the UFC’s Mexican Independence Day event at the Sphere in Vegas, after he fought Chito. Ariel brought up Merab as a potential opponent for him, as it made sense from a contender point of view and a business point of view. Merab is the #1 contender in the Bantamweight division and he is heavily supported by Mexican fans since his last fight with Henry Cejudo.

Mexican Fans Upset with Henry Cejudo comments

Leading up to their bout, Henry Cejudo had made comments that upset many Mexican fans, which can be found below:

"You guys will never see me with the Mexican flag." pic.twitter.com/SzfAggU1UQ

— Borrachinha Depot (@FullContactMTWF) October 15, 2022

“First and foremost I am an American…You will never see me with the Mexican flag”

Cejudo, a Mexican American himself, went on to defend his statements in an appearance on Daniel “DC” Cormier’s talk show:

Let me explain true loyalty to all you Mexicans and Mexican’ts. I am American Mexican and I am the most loyal guy I know. #bendtheknee pic.twitter.com/oYlgIxTJfT

— Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) January 27, 2022

Henry Cejudo represented America in the 2008 Olympics, earning two different honors. The first accomplishment was the Olympic Gold Medal in Freestyle Wrestling and the second one was becoming the youngest American Olympian to win Olympic Gold at just 21 years old.

Having numerous public appearances where he spoke on all of the opportunities that America had given him in the past, it seems like Cejudo was again just trying to express his love and appreciation for the United States. However, this message may have gotten lost in the way he said it, as the focus turned from his gratitude for America toward a potential misunderstanding/misinterpretation of him “betraying” his Mexican heritage.

Mexican Support for Merab

With much attention on Mexican fan sentiment toward Cejudo during the leadup to their bout, Merab told Mexican fans that he would represent them in his fight against Cejudo, pulling out a Mexican flag at the press conference to widespread crowd support:

Merab Dvalishvili pulls out a Mexican flag and say he will "make Mexico proud" by beating Henry Cejudo at #UFC298 🇲🇽 pic.twitter.com/mtmttL2W2K

— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) February 16, 2024

So when Helwani said that Mexican fans had adopted Merab, he wasn’t far off. Since “The Machine” made those comments, the Mexican fans have voiced their support for Merab on social media ever since… and with Merab fighting at the UFC Noche event (celebrating Mexican contributions to combat sports), the Mexican fans would more than likely tune in and show up to watch him

So there's the Mexican relation to one half of the September 14th event… but what about Sean? What’s O’Malley’s relation to Mexico?

Sean “The Mexican” O’Malley

In the same interview linked above (also linked here), O’Malley responded to Helwani, who implied that he thought Merab would have most of the Mexican fans supporting him. He told Helwani that he chose to display the Mexican flag on his UFC Championship belt. When the UFC asked Sean which flag he wanted on one of the side plates, he told them he wanted the Mexican flag (check out the photo he sent us above for a look at this side plate)

This is because both his wife and his daughter are Mexican, so from his relation to them, Sean says he’s Mexican. Ariel goes on to confirm which side of the family Sean gets his Mexican roots from, a question that Sean answers with the same reply: his wife and his daughter. 

This entire conversation takes place at the 9:56 mark in the interview (shows the Mexican flag on the belt at 11:16)… it may sound confusing (because it is), but watching this part of the interview may clear it up a little bit.

So… yeah, Sean O’Malley is Mexican, by his standards. “Do the math” (his words, not ours)

Thank you for reading - we hope this clears up any questions on whether or not Sean O’Malley is Mexican and creates no new ones!