Sean O’Malley is the UFC bantamweight champion. The 28-year-old viral sensation began his meteoric rise through Dana White’s Contender Series in 2017, amassed a monster following on social media and was coronated as the king of the 135-pound division with a second-round stoppage of Aljamain Sterling.
It’s a beautiful story on the surface, but if you dig a little deeper it exposes some significant flaws in the UFC.
During his rise, O’Malley suffered a stoppage loss to Marlon Vera in 2020, which bounced him out of the UFC’s official rankings. He found his way back into the rankings at No.13 after a first-round stoppage over Raulian Paiva in December 2021.
And that’s where things get strange.
O’Malley would next face the No.10-ranked Pedro Munhoz in July 2022. The fight ended with a No Contest due to an accidental eye poke in a fight where it can be argued that he was losing.
Instead of an immediate rematch, O’Malley was shot up the ladder three months later to face former bantamweight champion and No.1 contender Petr Yan. O’Malley won a narrow split decision and it set the stage for him to be the next to face Sterling for the title.
O’Malley made good on the opportunity by knocking out Sterling and now sits on top of the mountain.
But it’s hard to ignore that he had a little help with his climb.
THE FULL @SUGASEANMMA KNOCKOUT!
— UFC (@ufc) August 20, 2023
A right hand that will live on in UFC history at #UFC292! pic.twitter.com/jM5MkPTxqK
"There’s no such thing as 'Dana White Privilege' in this company," UFC president Dana White said afterward when discussing O’Malley’s rapid ascent to a title opportunity. "You don’t become No.2 in the world without earning it. I don’t pick that, you people do."
That’s a deeply flawed statement.
To be clear: O’Malley deserves all the credit in the world for executing when given the opportunity. But he needed to be given the opportunity, to begin with.
White’s suggestion that O’Malley didn’t become the No.2 bantamweight in the world without earning it is only half true. Yes, O’Malley did beat Yan but how he ended up getting the opportunity to face Yan is another question entirely.
After the fight was announced, White explained that he wasn’t initially on board with the idea of O’Malley facing Yan after the No Contest with Munhoz but matchmaker Sean Shelby convinced him that it made sense, regardless of their respective rankings.
"Sean Shelby wanted that fight. I said, ‘Are you out of your mind? You don’t make that fight now. This and that.’ He told me why he’d make it and O’Malley’s ready," White said at a press conference for Dana White’s Contender Series. "You know, O’Malley’s about to be 28 years old in October, in his absolute prime right now, hits like a truck.
"He ended up selling me on it. And more importantly, both guys wanted it. And even more important than that, when we announced it, everybody went crazy and loves it. And even more important than that, it should be f---ing a really good fight."
MORE: Sean O'Malley wins bantamweight title with 2nd round KO of Aljamain Sterling
While all of this is true, what’s the point of having rankings if the UFC doesn’t use them and will just do what they want when they feel like it?
Obviously, the other half of the equation of promoting is business. It’s no secret that O’Malley has the “it” factor that has seen him amass over three million followers on Instagram, which is more than four times the following of Sterling.
The UFC’s job is to sell fights and if putting O’Malley in a position to be a world champion makes the most dollars, then it also makes the most sense.
Fair or unfair, it is what it is.
And that's what has been defined as "Dana White privilege” because opportunities don’t always go to the most deserving fighters for what they do inside of the Octagon. If you have a following and can make the company money, you’ll be moved along faster than other fighters.
Ask Belal Muhammad — who hasn’t lost a fight since January 2019 (9-0, 1 No Contest) — where his welterweight title opportunity is, while Colby Covington is on the verge of his third chance to win a title in three years despite not having beaten a top-five fighter.
It also cannot be ignored that O'Malley was treated like the A-side heading into the fight with Sterling. The fight ended up in Boston, playing to O'Malley's Irish surname and the healthy contingency of Irish fans in the area. O'Malley was also heavily featured on promotional material and made the rounds on a variety of media outlets while Sterling was treated more like the challenger than the champion.
White and the UFC eventually have to admit that some fighters are simply treated better by the promotion regardless of their performance. The reasons could be that they are close to White or align with his views or their popularity supersedes their performance. Whatever it is, all things aren’t equal in the Ultimate Fighting Championships.
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“They can do that type of s— in boxing,” White said. “If you make it to the top here… you know what I mean… I’m not saying some people can’t catch breaks sometimes. People are hurt, this and that happens, certain matchups can’t happen at one time…there are lots of different things that can happen but it has nothing to do with us.”
After suggesting that the UFC is better than boxing when it comes to matchmaking, he almost admitted there is some truth behind "Dana White Privilege" but stopped short by saying that it has nothing to do with the UFC. That’s simply not true. That has everything to do with the UFC and who they choose to put where.
The UFC chose to put O'Malley in a title fight and O'Malley made the promotion look like geniuses by proving that he was deserving by knocking out Sterling. And that's okay as long as White admits that there is some preferential treatment given to some fighters over others.
The UFC is no better than boxing in this regard. Maybe they do give the fans the fights they want to see but they also don't follow their own rules and ranking system. It's a business and most people understand that but don't try to convince us otherwise.
Whether White wants to admit it or not, O'Malley was the beneficiary of "Dana White Privilege."