Sean O'Malley said he was having hot flashes and almost passed out on stage whilst answering questions at a UFC 280 press conference last week in London.
O'Malley came over from the US just for the press conference, which was held at The O2 arena last Friday before the ceremonial weigh-in show for UFC London. 'Suga' is taking on former bantamweight champion Petr Yan on the talent-packed UFC 280 event and took questions from UK fans ahead of the fight.
Despite putting on a brave face, O'Malley said he was close to walking off stage during the press conference after experiencing hot flashes. "At the press conference, I was like getting hot flashes,” O’Malley said on his YouTube channel. “The lights were so bright, dude. I legitimately for a second there was freaking out.
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"I thought I was going to pass out. It was so scary dude. It was so scary. I remember answering one question and was like ‘oh, f***!’. I almost wanted to get up and just walk off stage, but I don’t know if I could do that,” he said. “I think I played it off good enough. I was hearing the questions, but I couldn’t think like I wanted to answer them. But then it kind of went away, it was only a couple minute period.”
O'Malley was answering questions alongside recently-stripped UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira and Belal Muhammad at the press conference. Oliveira looks to reclaim his title on the UFC 280 card when he takes on Islam Makhachev in the headlining spot whilst Muhammad takes on fellow top-ranked welterweight contender Sean Brady.
'Suga' faces a big step up in competition against former champion Yan on October 22. 'Suga' recently faced a ranked opponent at 135lb for the first time in his UFC career in Pedro Munhoz, but their fight was cut short in the second round after an accidental eye poke from O'Malley rendered Munhoz unable to continue. O'Malley has since boasted about becoming the first fighter to finish Munhoz and that he recognises the fight as a win in his favour.
Yan looks to push himself back into title contention after coming up short in his rematch against Aljamain Sterling at UFC 273. The Russian called for O'Malley to be in his corner for the fight after his coaches were denied entry to the US. Yan and Sterling's first fight two years ago ended in controversy after an illegal knee from Yan saw him stripped of his title and Sterling be crowned new champion.
