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UFC Bantamweight Champion Aljamain Sterling defends the gold against former two division UFC champion Henry Cejudo in the main event of UFC 288.
Sean O'Malley recently revealed that he was offered the chance to be the backup fighter for the UFC 288 main event, but he turned the opportunity down.
“I was really planning on being backup for Henry-Aljo,” O’Malley said on the TimboSugarShow (transcript via Jed Meshew of MMA Fighting). “Now we’re at the point where it is so — go and doing a camp, five five-[minute rounds]. Planning on a fight is hard enough to do knowing you have a fight, but knowing you’re probably not going to fight, I can’t train the same way. And I don’t feel like I’m in a position where I’m like, ‘Well, it’s my only opportunity, I need to be a backup.’ I was trying, but now I’m to the point where I’m like, f*** that. If one of those dorks pull out, reschedule it.”
There has been no word given yet by the UFC if there is a backup fighter for the UFC 288 main event.
O'Malley says that when he gets a shot at the bantamweight gold, he will be ready with a full training camp.
“I need a real eight weeks where I know I’m fighting,” O’Malley said. “It’s just too hard to go be that disciplined. You can’t be that disciplined all the time. There’s a certain level of disciplined you can be in camp, and that’s why you feel like a f****** superhuman when you’re in there, because the way you’ve lived the last eight weeks, whatever it is.
“But I’m to the point where, they’re five weeks out to the fight, if I got the call I’d be like, ‘I’m not ready to do five f****** fives.’ I haven’t been doing every possible thing that I could be doing. So I’m pulling out from backup fighter. I never officially was, but breaking news.”
