Sean O'Malley aiming to be the "next" Conor McGregor - "I want to be that guy that everyone and their grandma watches"

Sean O'Malley has idolized Conor McGregor ever since 'Sugar' entered the sport of MMA, not only due to a shared Irish heritage but also owing to McGregor's trailblazing career.

'Notorious' has achieved many incredible feats in his combat sports career. The first of them being his earth-shattering 13-second knockout of Jose Aldo to win the UFC featherweight title in December 2015. Less than a year later, McGregor went on to become the first double-champion in UFC history after demolishing Eddie Alvarez for the lightweight strap.

In 2017, the Irishman transcended MMA and stepped into the boxing ring to face off against the great Floyd Mayweather Jr.

The list of McGregor's achievements and the fame that resulted from them is something Sean O'Malley hopes to emulate in the future.

'Sugar' recently spoke to TMZ Sports about his upcoming fight against Petr Yan and mentioned his aspirations of becoming the biggest star in the sport:

"But when Conor's gone, when it's all said and done, I wanna be that next guy. I wanna be that guy that everyone gets excited for, everyone and their grandma watches the fight just because."

Watch the interview below from 1:45:

Sean O'Malley has amassed an incredible following already, mainly due to his exciting style of fighting.

The one-punch knockout against Eddie Wineland, the manner in which 'Sugar' dispatched Raulian Paiva and the Thomas Almeida knockout are all examples of the bantamweight's ability to put on a show.

Petr Yan is one of the toughest matchups for any bantamweight in the UFC, and 'Sugar' could be catapulted into a new level of stardom if he is able to beat 'No Mercy'.

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Sean O'Malley looks at the positive side of him being an underdog against Petr Yan

Sean O'Malley is preparing for the biggest fight of his career, a matchup with the No.1-ranked bantamweight Petr Yan. The fight will take place on arguably the most stacked card of the year at UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi on October 22.

Despite Yan being an enormous step-up in competition for him, 'Sugar' is supremely confident in his ability and believes he will come away victorious. O'Malley will be entering the octagon as a 3-1 underdog, a position that he isn't accustomed to.

However, during the same interview with TMZ Sports, 'Sugar' stated that his underdog status doesn't affect him and that it may be a positive thing for his fans:

"Yeah 3-1, sounds like some die-hard 'Sugar' fans could really make some serious cheddar. I know a lot of people always bet on me, and it's always kind of hard to make good money on me. I'm always a pretty big favorite."

Sean O'Malley appears to be in a jovial mood regarding the upcoming fight against Petr Yan. Based on his recent Instagram post, the pressure of such a tough fight doesn't seem to be affecting him at all:

"Peter prob pulling out after he sees this."

See the Instagram post below: