Sean O'Malley was recently called out by professional boxer Ryan Garcia for a crossover bout, with the pugilist offering to strap on a pair of four ounce gloves and face O'Malley in MMA.
'KingRy' called out the UFC bantamweight champion during a recent appearance on Ariel Helwani's show, The MMA Hour. Garcia claimed that he would be able to defeat O'Malley after only three or four months of training.
Ahead of O'Malley's upcoming title defense set to headline a stacked UFC 299 card (Mar.10), his coach Tim Welch shared his thoughts on Garcia's recent claim that he would defeat 'Sugar' in MMA.
Given the recent behavior of 'KingRy,' combined with his association with Oscar De La Hoya, there have been accusations that the boxer is battling with a drug problem, which he has denied.
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Welch was recently interviewed by Submission Radio, where he said this:
"I think he's surrounding by a bunch of bad people, has a lot of money. Take a couple snorts of that coke and think you can do anything. I think that's what's going on."
Watch Sean O'Malley's coach discuss Ryan Garcia's antics below from 11:30:
Sean O'Malley would want to "make the kid suffer" if he faced Ryan Garcia in MMA says coach
Sean O'Malley is at the tail end of his preparation for his first title defense, set to take place on Mar. 10 against Marlon Vera at UFC 299.
The pair will face off in a rematch of their UFC 252 clash where 'Chito' secured a TKO victory after causing damage to O'Malley's leg with a well-placed kick. 'Sugar' dismissed the loss as a fluke due to his foot going numb after being kicked, which led to the finish.
O'Malley's coach, Tim Welch, was asked how an MMA fight between 'Sugar' and Ryan Garcia would unfold, given the boxer's recent callout of the UFC champion.
Welch said:
"Sean is such a showman that he would probably, he wouldn't want to just take him down and submit him like Randy Couture did to James Toney. He'd want to make the kid suffer a bit. He'd want to kick his legs, kick his body, kick him in the head." [12:00-12:20]