BKFC champ Kai Stewart is just like the rest of the combat sports punters when it comes to bare-knuckle action. Keep the head down and enjoy the organized violence mayhem. Even though he holds the promotion’s featherweight title, Stewart is chasing an all-around legacy and direction in other rulesets as well. To that end, he has UFC star Sean O’Malley in mind.
Kai Stewart is too fresh to figure out what bare-knuckle boxing is – and where it’s headed. There is no proper bare-knuckle coaching for BKFC camps as well. However, former UFC 135-pound champ Sean O’Malley is a lesser convoluted puzzle.
I started bareknuckle to be a ticket seller, …Now, I’m going to be so much more of a complete fighter whenever the superfight between me and O’Malley happens…Let’s fill the Grizzly Stadium in Montana. That holds 20,000 people and we’d fill it easy. Something just doesn’t sit right. I’ve never said a bad thing about O’Malley. I kind of joked about Myles Mazurkiewicz, the wrestler that beat him.
Kai Stewart said to MMA Junkie
“Suga” climbed several key all-time lists during 2023-24. O’Malley landed 220 significant strikes at his UFC 299 championship. That is a single-fight record for a UFC bantamweight championship fight. It won him Best ESPY and also a headlining spot in the annual Noche UFC card.
Sean O’Malley’s nine fight-night bonuses at bantamweight competition are still the most. The 24-year-old Stewart is one of BKFC’s few truly home-grown champions. Now, he wants to duke it out with “Suga” for King of Montana spot.
Both born in Montana, the duo have squabbled online. Unlike many of his bare-knuckle counterparts, Stewart’s roots in martial arts lie in wrestling. He has risen through the BKFC ranks and now has a 7-0 record with four title victories. After UFC 306, Kai Stewart could be the perfect scrambler-vs-striker deterrent to O’Malley for a crossover fight. The latter, though, has other plans first.
Sean O’Malley wants mid-year title shot for UFC return
Sean O’Malley (18-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) is on a sabbatical after he lost his title in a unanimous decision loss to Merab Dvalishvili in September. It was only O’Malley’s second career defeat and first loss since 2020. The Arizona native needed surgery on his hip cartilage (labrum) after the year’s Noche UFC PPV, but will return this year. O’Malley thinks his draw power still lands him a title shot yet again, soon enough.
Sean O’Malley plans his UFC return (Source: X)The “Suga Show” recently landed in Japan as a guest fighter at RIZIN 49: Decade and is still a big draw. He is still considerably one of the biggest dynamic and cerebral strikers and a pay-per-view biggie. O’Malley helped kick off the festivities and said he had the best trip of his life. During his stay, he spoke to RIZIN TV about his cage return.
He is hoping that Dvalishvili will successfully defend his UFC bantamweight title against Umar Nurmagomedov at the upcoming UFC 311 card. That sets him up so that the two of them can run with it again in Q2-Q3.
Sean O’Malley wants to face the winner of Merab vs Umar “mid-next year”:
“Ideally, Merab beats Umar and I get the rematch. But if Umar wins, it’ll be Umar. That’s what I want next is a title fight.”
(via. @rizin_PR) #UFC311 #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/ZNgL6IjfV1
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As he watches Dvalishvili defend his title against fellow grappler in the co-main event of UFC 311 on 18 January, O’Malley knows he has work to do. He also plans to disconnect from all social media and let his team members do it for him. When Suga does make his return, he wants to be a reckoning again.
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