When Sean O'Malley acknowledged Conor McGregor's influence following his bantamweight title win

Conor McGregor was once Sean O'Malley's biggest source of inspiration, with 'Sugar' having said as much in a past interview with Megan Olivi. Ahead of UFC 292, where the flashy bantamweight striker challenged Aljamain Sterling for the divisional belt, he spoke highly of 'The Notorious.'

In fact, O'Malley expressed a desire to emulate McGregor. It's easy to see why the Irishman is a goal for many fighters. He is the wealthiest MMA fighter in the sport's history by a significant margin, as well as the UFC's first-ever simultaneous two-division champion.

O'Malley, for his part, has never shied away from showing his admiration for McGregor, who he credits for inspiring him to be confident.

"When I was on the Contender Series saying, 'I have that thing, I have what it takes, I will be UFC champion, I will be a superstar,' you hear people say that and that kind of sounds forced. When I said that, I was 20-whatever years old, 21, 22 years old, that was true confidence. I meant it and look where we're at now. I think it was from my experiences. Also, I do believe it was from watching Conor."

O'Malley continued detailing the impact McGregor's legendary career has had on him, likening him to an unintentional career guide, as 'Sugar' looks to pattern his professional life after the Irishman.

"People were like, 'You want to be Conor.' I'm like, well, I want to be as rich as Conor. I would love to do what Conor's done in the sport. So if that's what it means, then sure, I want to be like Conor. I also don't want to be like him in many other ways, so I want to be the 'Suga Show' and do my own thing."

Check out Sean O'Malley's past praise for Conor McGregor (12:15):

O'Malley was careful to state that, despite wanting to emulate McGregor, he is wary of taking on some of the Irishman's other traits; eager to emulate his success, but not repeat his mistakes. 'Sugar' appears to be on his way, as he went on to dethrone Sterling at UFC 292 via second-round TKO.

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Sean O'Malley's relationship with Conor McGregor has soured as of late

With his reign as UFC bantamweight champion solidified, Sean O'Malley is currently training for his second title defense against Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306. However, he has also found himself an enemy in Conor McGregor, a man he once idolized. This stems from an X/Twitter rant from the Irishman.

In the wake of Ryan Garcia's positive test for ostarine, a banned substance, McGregor brought up O'Malley's past failed test for ostarine, lambasting him in a since-deleted tweet, sparking an unlikely feud.