Sean O’Malley Recalls Living on Tim Welch’s Couch During Early Career

Sean
O’Malley recently recalled the journey that led to him crossing
paths with longtime friend and coach Tim Welch.

While always a standout athlete, O’Malley walked away from college
football due to his skinny stature and a general disregard for
authority. It was one of O’Malley’s classmates’ fathers — who was a
boxing coach — that introduced “Sugar” to combat sports.

O’Malley found early success in his amateur career before suffering
his first loss, which he absolutely hated. The Montana native then
decided to leave his hometown to make a career out of MMA. O’Malley
worked for a year at a home for mentally-challenged adults, to save
up the money for the move. O’Malley paid off the loan on his Nissan
Ultima, and with $2,000 more to his name, drove down to
Arizona.

“I knew I could not go pro and make a living or get to where I
wanted to get to living in Montana,” O’Malley said on his YouTube
channel. “I saved up $2,000. I worked at Spring Meadow Resources:
It was a group home for eight mentally disabled adults. [It was] their house and we would just go help them with chores. I drove the
bus, I drove them to work, bumping f—-ing Radiohead, had a little
speaker talking. Basically a stand-up comedian driving around,
talking with them, take them into the store, help them find their
groceries and stuff. But I worked there for probably about a year,
I saved up $2,000, I paid off my 2006 Nissan Ultima, paid that off
so I wouldn’t have any bills. Saved up $2,000 and drove down to
Arizona.”

O’Malley first saw Welch fighting on a Bellator
MMA card and was surprised to learn that he is also from
Montana. Later, when O’Malley was fighting in Great Falls, where
Welch lives, the latter was on commentary duty cageside. O’Malley
pulled off an armbar submission win against a wrestler, which left
Welch impressed. At the afterparty, Welch invited O’Malley to try
out training with him at the
MMA Lab in Arizona for a week.

“I was downstairs in my living room and Bellator was on. And I see
this guy Tim Welch from
Montana,” O’Malley recalled. “I was like what the f—k? Montana!
That’s crazy. If someone’s on TV I thought they were famous no
matter what. I fight in Great Falls where Tim’s from, and I fight
this college wrestler. Outside Tim’s commentating. This wrestler
takes me down, he’s beating my ass. I roll for a nice armbar… I’m
popping his elbow, he tapped. I win, I’m on cloud 7,000…So after
the afterparty, Tim’s like, ‘Yo I offer this to people, not a lot
of people take it. But you’re more than welcome to come down and
check out The MMA Lab and try it out.”

O’Malley obliged, training with Welch for a week while also living
on his uncomfortable futon bed. The UFC bantamweight champ admits
getting humbled in training everyday in what he remembers as one of
the worst yet best experiences of his life.

“I stayed on his couch, his futon, uncomfortable ass futon, for
seven days. One of the worst but best experiences I have ever had,”
O’Malley said. “I get my ass kicked very, very badly every single
day I went to the gym and I was smoked.”

This gave birth to a friendship which has stood the test of time
and played a huge role in O’Malley’s rise to stardom. Welch notes
that unlike other coaches who train multiple athletes, all his
attention is focused on his friend O’Malley. The former Bellator
fighter will look to coach his friend to another successful title
defense against Merab
Dvalishvili (17-4) at UFC
306 on Saturday at the Sphere in Las Vegas.