After attending
Rizin 49 “Decade” as a guest, Sean
O’Malley is intrigued about the possibility of competing in
Japan — but only under the
Ultimate Fighting Championship banner.
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“Right now, obviously, I’m with the UFC,” O’Malley said at a
post-fight press conference. “I plan to be with the UFC forever, so
if the UFC comes here some day, I would love to fight in this
arena. There’s a good energy here.”
Rizin 49 served as the Japanese promotion’s traditional year-end
event, and as usual, it was quite the spectacle, including a
supersized fight card that featured three championship bouts at the
top of the bill. O’Malley came away impressed with the
proceedings.
“The production of the show was incredible, the energy in the arena
was incredible, the ring girls are incredible,” he said. “Overall
impression of Japan, this has been the most fun trip I’ve ever been
on and I would love to come back.”
However, O’Malley is not as interested in competing under the Pride
rule set utilized by Rizin — which includes kicks and knees to the
head of a downed opponent — because he doesn’t believe that it
necessarily plays to his strengths as a fighter.
“I noticed when I went in there, the ring is a lot softer than the
UFC. The UFC platform is thinner. That would be a little bit
different,” O’Malley said. “The ruleset, for me, I feel like it
benefits me more not being able to get kicked in the head because
I’m the one above someone. If I get taken down I’m usually on my
back. So that would probably not be as good for me. But it would be
interesting.”
The Octagon hasn’t touched down in Japan since September 2017, when
Ovince St.
Preux submitted Yushin Okami
in the UFC Fight Night 117 headliner at Saitama Super Arena.
However, Rizin president Nobuyuki Sakakibara was a guest at UFC 310
on Dec. 7, and Dana White
expressed interest in holding another Fight Night event in
Japan sometime in the near future.