UFC champion Sean O’Malley says that keeping journals during training camp continues to give him tactical advantages over his competition.
Keeping a list of everything you have done each day sounds like a tedious and monotonous affair, that is unless there is a UFC world championship title on the line.
‘Sugar’ Sean O’Malley already has six full fight journals from training camps prior, telling Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour how having such “knowledge and information” on hand gives him a tactical over fellow bantamweights.
Sean O’Malley on why he keeps fight journals during training camp
Bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley is deep in preparation ahead of a PPV rematch against the only man to have bested him in the UFC octagon, Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera.
With a shiny gold UFC belt now around his waist, O’Malley is looking to take any tactical advantage over Vera that he can get; including turning to the one person who has the most personal insights to offer, himself.
“I journal all my fight camps, I write in the morning, I write at night, I write what my weight is, I write how I feel, and what I did that day,” the 17-1 champion told Helwani.
“I have six full journals of fight camp knowledge and information. I want to be the greatest of all time and I think that’s just something, maybe it’s not necessary, but a little part of the recipe to get there.”
O’Malley explains how he’ll compare his most recent journal entries to those from the same time in his previous training camps, noting how “it’s interesting looking back on how I felt then vs how I feel now.”
“I thought it could be an advantage. I’m like ‘god I wish I knew what my weight was [this time] last camp’. I started doing it early on before I got in the UFC, so why don’t I just write it down?”
Sean O’Malley is set to face Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera in the main event of UFC 299, which is scheduled to go down on March 9 from the Kaseya Center in Miami.
The pair fought back in 2020 at UFC 252, which Vera won by first-round KO – albeit after O’Malley suffered a painful foot injury that led to the finishing sequence.
‘Sugar’ has rolled off five consecutive victories since coming up short against Vera, four of which being KO wins including last time out against Aljamain Sterling to win the UFC bantamweight title.
The winner of O’Malley vs Vera will face Merab Dvalishvili next, as confirmed by Dana White at the post-fight press conference, following the Georgian earning an impressive decision win over former champion Henry Cejudo at UFC 298.