Brian Kelleher has been rallying for a fight against Sean O'Malley in December for quite some time now. Even though he did make headway, the UFC are apparently trying to "work around" that fight.
In an interview with MMA Junkie, Brian 'Boom' Kelleher shared what he thinks is the reason behind the UFC's apprehension towards booking the fight between him and Sean O'Malley. He said:
"I just think, the UFC, sometimes, they have a specific plan for certain fighters and I think O'Malley's that kind of guy, where they give him options. They give him three guys to pick out of and he picks the most suitable guy. I'm just hoping that I'm in that group of guys that he can choose out of."
Catch MMA Junkie's interview with Brian Kelleher below:
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Sean O'Malley's coach Tim Welch reached out to Brian Kelleher
Sean O'Malley's longtime coach and fellow podcast host Tim Welch reached out to Brian Kelleher about a potential clash with 'Sugar'. 'Boom' said that he responded with a yes every time, but there was no follow-up.
"His coach has reached out to me multiple times asking if I was free and I say 'I'm free,' so it's really on them, you know? Let's hear it from their side if they really want it."
Sean O'Malley's coach also replied to a tweet by Brian Kelleher. Welch asked him if he was free to fight on December 11. That is expected to be the date for the UFC 269 pay-per-view.
Brian Kelleher even tweeted a photo of himself and Sean O'Malley with the caption "She said yes," indicating that the fight was close to being booked. But the topsy-turvy saga surrounding a matchup between Sean O'Malley and Brian Kelleher seems to have died down for now.
Meanwhile, 'Sugar' is still on the look-out for an opponent to face at UFC 269 on December 11. The bantamweight fighter recently put out two tweets suggesting two new possible opponents in Dominick Cruz and Pedro Munhoz. While the veteran Cruz is coming off a recent victory over Casey Kenney, Munhoz recently lost a hard-fought battle against Jose Aldo.