UFC bantamweight superstar Sean O’Malley is only one fight away from the bantamweight gold. The 28-year-old fighter will soon take on the champion, Aljamain Sterling in Boston at UFC 292. Even though both fighters have mutual respect for the other, they always seem to be at each other’s throats.
Sean O’Malley and Aljamain Sterling have called out each other several times over social media platforms and this weekend will finally settle their disputes in the cage. Regardless, Suga has come a long way from his first appearance in Dana White’s Contender series.
The bantamweight fighter rose to prominence with his elite striking and evolved with each fight. Suga is now a complete fighter with great BJJ skills and takedown defense along with his crisp striking. To reach this stage however, the 28-year-old had to experiment a lot with his lifestyle.
Suga even tried going on a vegan diet to gain an advantage over his opponent. However, the diet did not suit him quite well and he eventually parted ways with the vegan lifestyle. Let’s learn more about why the plant-based lifestyle did not work for the bantamweight superstar.
Why did Sean O’Malley quit his vegan diet
The Vegan diet has become quite the trend among athletes from different backgrounds. Several claim to have gained benefits from their plant-based lifestyle including MMA legends like Nick and Nate Diaz. Bantamweight fighter Sean O’Malley also stated that he experimented with the plant-based diet for six months.
During his appearance on Joe Rogan‘s podcast, Sean O’Malley revealed that he consumed a lot of junk food early on in his career. This had an adverse effect on Sean as he constantly experienced back problems. To counter the issue, the 28-year-old started eating healthy and saw improvements as his back problems gradually disappeared.
Motivated by the results, O’Malley was inspired to eat healthier and shifted to a vegan diet. However, he also incorporated eggs later on to compensate for the energy loss. Yet, the bantamweight star did not feel great and switched to eating meat after six months of trial and error.
“I ate that Vegan diet for six months, but I incorporated eggs into it because I just couldn’t, wasn’t eating enough. I never felt bad, I didn’t feel worse. I just didn’t feel great. Once I started eating good quality meat again, I felt my energy levels were way higher, more aggressive, I felt like more manly,” said Sean O’Malley.
The 28-year-old fighter certainly likes to experiment on himself and sticks to what works for him. Given his tall frame for the division, he also follows an effective training routine that helps him with his performance inside the octagon.
What is Sean O’Malley’s training routine for his UFC fights?
Along with his diet, Sean O’Malley also gives extreme attention to his training. Sean is currently the tallest fighter in the bantamweight division and as such boasts a huge reach advantage over other fighters. This is why he incorporates a training routine that helps him perform to the best of his ability against his opponents.
His routine consists of cardiovascular training, some bodyweight exercises, strength and conditioning along with his MMA training. For cardio, O’Malley mainly prefers riding stationary bikes in the gym.
He then adds a couple of bodyweight exercises like pushups and lunges to keep him in shape.
O’Malley pays a close attention to his strength and conditioning training as it helps him keep injury free outside the octagon. He works out with medicine balls, kettlebells and adds some CrossFit to his strength and conditioning routine. The 28-year-old has a separate strength and conditioning coach that helps him with his routine and making weight.
Sean O’Malley is also an elite striker whose training is heavily based on boxing. He spends a lot of time on heavy bag work, drills and mitts for his striking. Along with that he also puts a lot of emphasis on training his kicks as well.
Grappling is another vital part of Suga’s training as he is a brown belt in BJJ. Given his upcoming opponent is a BJJ specialist, Sean will have to train a lot on his takedown defense and ground game.
With his training and nutrition on point, Sean O’Malley looks forward to defeating Aljamain Sterling in his next bout. Will the 28-year-old become the bantamweight champion at UFC 292? Let us know your opinions in the comments below.