Former UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley is one of the biggest MMA stars in the world. Despite losing his last two outings against the current title holder, Merab Dvalishvili, ‘Suga’ retains his star status.
The profile of the knockout artist has led him to garner mainstream attention, including being mentioned as having a boxing match in the future.
Although O’Malley is no longer as vocal when speaking about taking on boxing’s champions, recent comments suggest that the MMA star is still open to the crossover, for the right price.
Jul 2, 2022; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Pedro Munhoz (red gloves) reacts after his bout against Sean O’Malley (blue gloves) resulted in a no decision due to an accidental foul during UFC 276 at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images / Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images
Although Ryan Garcia’s last fight would see him suffer the second loss of his career, his name value is still among the highest in boxing. So much so that the former UFC champion expressed interest in a fight with ‘King Ry’.
Speaking on his coach Tim Welch’s YouTube channel, O’Malley was asked if he would consider facing Garcia on the co-main event of a hypothetical fight between Terence Crawford and Ilia Topuria. O’Malley said he would be open to the bout, but only for the right paycheck.
“Honestly, if there was a fat*** payday, 100%. I’m thinking like, $10 million. But if you said five, I’d be like, yeah. It’d be a tough ****ing fight.
–Â Sean O’Malley
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Although the former bantamweight champion is seemingly open to a fight with Garcia, he named Gervonta Davis as an alternative opponent for his boxing outing.
“I’d fight Gervonta Davis,” O’Malley said. When asked if he preferred ‘Tank’ as an opponent over Garcia, O’Malley responded, “Yeah.” O’Malley was then asked if he felt that Davis was a more favorable stylistic matchup for him in a boxing fight, to which the UFC star confirmed.
Sean O’Malley says he’d be down to fight Ryan Garcia for a $10 million pay day, but would prefer to fight Gervonta Davis
“It would be a tough f***ing fight. I’d rather fight Gervonta Davis.”
🎥 @TimwelchMT pic.twitter.com/wfBPZIEGSG
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) September 25, 2025
O’Malley has not competed in a professional boxing match in his career to this point. However, he is considered to be one of the UFC’s most talented strikers, with several of his MMA finishes coming via one-punch knockouts.
‘Tank’ Davis is also taking on Jake Paul in November in an exhibition fight, meaning the lightweight champion may entertain a crossover meeting with ‘Suga’.
As for Garcia, the former Devin Haney opponent was once scheduled to fight under MMA organization Rizin in December 2024 during the fighter’s boxing suspension. Garica was set to take on former kickboxing champion Rukiya Anpo in an exhibition bout; however, the fight never came to fruition.
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