Rising UFC star Sean O'Malley has said that he wants to follow in Conor McGregor's footsteps without "losing his mind".
The bantamweight has emerged as one of the most exciting fighters in the sport with his latest knockout win over Raulian Paiva enough to land him in the top 15 for the first time.
And he has vowed to enjoy the celebrity lifestyle of a superstar like McGregor, minus the controversies outside of the cage which have marred the Irishman's career
O'Malley has managed to see McGregor's success up close when he appeared on the undercard of UFC 264, which was headlined by his trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier.
And the pair met briefly during McGregor's rehabilitation in the United States before he returned to Ireland late last year.
“I wanted to kind of get into the UFC and be that motherf***er," O'Malley said on the Raw Talk podcast with YouTuber Bradley Martin.
"Like, Conor was the first - I wanted to be that.
"Conor was that, which I thought was important for me to learn from and I think I’m going just go on a similar path, but take it to another level; like even further.”
For O'Malley to do that, he would need to become a multiple-weight world champion and make lasting ground-breaking changes, such as transitioning to boxing.
McGregor became two-weight world champion in 2016 after defeating Eddie Alvarez and Jose Aldo for their lightweight and featherweight titles.
He then moved into boxing to face Floyd Mayweather in 2017 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, which was one of the highest-grossing events in the sport's history and earned him over $100million in purse guarantees, bonuses and sponsorships.
But O'Malley has said that he is also looking to avoid what happened next for the Irishman, who went on to go 1-3, lose his lightweight title and find himself in a number of outside of the cage octagons.
Do you believe Sean O'Malley will become the next big star in the UFC? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
He infamously attacked a bus full of UFC fighters at a press conference for a pay-per-view fight in New York, which landed him behind bars for a night in 2018.
“And hopefully, [I hope to] not lose my mind," O'Malley added. "I think Conor; I mean, he made $100m.
"You kind of try to stay humble, but it’s hard… No, I don’t wanna f***ing get to a point where I’m throwing a dolly at a f***ing bus.
"But I also kind of do.”
Both McGregor and O'Malley, who met at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium last year, are awaiting their next steps in the UFC.
McGregor is still rehabilitating his leg, which he broke against Poirier back in July, and is planning to return by the Summer, while O'Malley will likely be back early this year.
He viciously stopped Paiva in December at UFC 269 after a gruesome beatdown of Kris Moutinho on the Poirier vs McGregor 3 undercard.
