It seems all but official that one of MMA's most talked about stars will be making his return to the UFC octagon this coming December. This is of course none other than Sugar Sean O'Malley. Love him or hate him, Sean never fails to capture the attention of the MMA world whenever he has a fight on the schedule. Sean possesses so many skills and traits that put him in a position to be one of the real stars of the sport in the future. His style is equal parts flashy and effective, which results in a lot of really exciting knockout wins, including the one on Dana White's Contender Series that got him the UFC contract in the first place. He also carries himself with the confidence and arrogance that so many of the most successful self promoters in MMA history have done before. His online persona, twitch streaming, and multicolored hair have also endeared him well with the younger crowd, while getting under the skin of many in the older crowd. While some people could be put off by some of the things he says or does, he's not doing anything that outlandish. I mean, we've seen Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather Jr. do way worse and most people don't seem to really care all that much. So what's the difference? Why does Sean get so much hate, but Conor and Floyd haven't really taken a hit to their reputations?
It has to do with the perception that Conor and Floyd have had to back up their words and actions and to a large degree have done so successfully. The perception for Sean on the other hand, is that he hasn't had to "walk the walk" so to speak. Say what you will about the timing of when the fights occurred, but Floyd still got in the ring 50 times as a professional and walked out victorious all 50 times while facing the likes of Oscar De La Hoya, Juan Manuel Marquez, Shane Mosley, Miguel Cotto, Canelo Alvarez, and Manny Pacquiao. Similarly, Conor McGregor has always at least attempted to back up his talk and faced some of the toughest fighters in the world. He was able to defeat a young Dustin Poirier, Max Holloway, Jose Aldo, Chad Mendes, and Eddie Alvarez. He also stepped into the octagon in attempt to back up his actions against Nate Diaz, Khabib Nurmagomedov, and an older and improved Dustin Poirier (twice), but came up short. Win or lose, both Conor and Floyd showed up and were held accountable for what they said about their competition by actually fighting them.
This is where people poke holes in Sean's resume. Sean talks the talk, but the perception from the general public is that Sean doesn't walk the walk. While I am not going to disrespect the people he has stood across the octagon from, it definitely isn't the strongest strength of schedule someone could have, especially in a really strong bantamweight division. The toughest opponent Sean has fought so far was Marlon "Chito" Vera, which coincidentally is the only loss of Sean's career. His next toughest opponent is...Eddie Wineland? I guess? Maybe Thomas Almeida? I won't go as far as to call those guys cans, but I will definitely say that in order to get the really big fights that I'm sure Sean wants, he's going to have to go through some stiffer competition than that.
Enter Raulian Paiva. It is rumored and seems to be unofficially agreed upon that he will be Sean's next opponent in December. Paiva isn't a household name, which caused a lot of people to rehash their arguments that Sean is gifted easy fights and that he refuses to fight anyone dangerous so he can talk about how great his record is without actually taking any chances against high level competition. I believe that lumping Paiva in with Wineland and Almeida is a mistake. This fight, besides Vera, is the highest level opponent Sean will have faced in the UFC. Paiva is ranked number 15 after his win over formerly ranked Kyler Phillips in his last fight. He also has a win over Zhalgas Zhumagulov, who, while not great or anything, is about on the same level as any of Sean's career wins. Paiva has also shared the octagon with Kai Kara-France, who is safely positioned within the flyweight rankings, albeit in a losing effort. While his record isn't nearly as clean and the way he got there wasn't nearly as flashy or exciting, I think Paiva has had the stronger strength of schedule to this point. I'm not implying I would pick Paiva to beat Sean, I am only saying that anyone thinking that he is a punching bag and an easy win so that Sean can get his hand raised is definitely over looking this fight. I know so many people have strong opinions on Sugar Sean O'Malley, so let me hear what you guys have to say? Is the Sean's next biggest test or am I giving Raulian Paiva way too much run here?
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