African-American UFC fighter’s controversial caption for Sean O'Malley picture triggers Twitter frenzy

Sean O'Malley is one of the UFC's rising stars and a potential bantamweight champion if he can overcome Aljamain Sterling, depending on the specific date that the promotion chooses for the bout. With potential stardom, however, comes attention, which isn't always positive.

Today, Terrance McKinney—an Africa-American fighter who competes in the UFC, took to Twitter to post a picture of himself standing alongside fellow fighters Kevin Holland and Sean O'Malley. He jokingly captioned his Tweet as "3 successful black fighters" which led to an interesting reaction on Twitter.

In the thread of replies below his tweet, fans had various responses to McKinney's tweet. While many continued the lighthearted and humorous nature of his tweet, some fans mocked him for describing himself as a successful fighter compared to the likes of Holland and O'Malley.

The rare few fans, however, took exception to 'Sugar' being described as a black fighter, even if jokingly. The reactions to McKinney's tweet is as follows:

This past Saturday, Sean O'Malley sat cage-side for Aljamain Sterling's title defense against Henry Cejudo. After 'Funk Master' emerged victorious against 'Triple C', O'Malley was called into the cage for a planned face-off. While a brawl nearly took place, cooler heads prevailed.

---

What happened between Sean O'Malley and Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 288?

Henry Cejudo and Aljamain Sterling clashed in a highly competitive bout this past Saturday. Despite the Olympic gold medalist's best efforts, he was on the wrong end of a split-decision loss to 'Funk Master'. Prior to the bout, Sean O'Malley was vocal about his desire to face 'Triple C' over Aljamain Sterling.

His desire stems from his enmity with Cejudo, who once interrupted one of O'Malley's backstage interviews. Regardless, after Sterling's win, O'Malley was called into the cage for a planned face-off with 'Funk Master'. While the two men jawed at each other, 'Sugar' took off his jacket as things grew heated.

However, he unknowingly handed his jacket to Merab Dvalishvili, who took the opportunity to wear it. Once O'Malley took notice of it, a brawl nearly broke out. Fortunately, security was quick to defuse the situation and everyone was escorted out of the octagon without incident.