Sean O’Malley is one of the fastest rising fighters in the UFC right now, coming off of a first round knockout win over Eddie Wineland at UFC 250.
While O’Malley’s stock in the UFC is rising, one thing that hasn’t gone up is the fighter’s money from the promotion’s sponsorship deal with Reebok.
“I didn’t even know it got blown up until my dad said ‘did you see that article?’ and I said no and he said something. I didn’t know it blew up,” O’Malley said to MMA Fighting. “The whole Reebok thing is insane. I think it was back-to-back years that it was over a million dollars [of merchandise sold]. I know one year for sure, I don’t want to say anything that’s not true but I have it in my e-mails, I think it was back-to-back years they did over a million dollars with the shirts and whatever else they sell on Reebok and I got $3,000 and $5,000 I think for those. Absolutely insane.”
O’Malley isn’t the first, nor will he be the last fighter to speak out against the Reebok deal, but O’Malley is being proactive when it comes to finding a solution.
That’s because O’Malley has decided to re-enter the apparel industry with what he is dubbing the “Suga Strain.”
“I’ve done the ‘Suga’ strain before but we just didn’t do it right,” O’Malley said. “We didn’t have the right people to build that but I think we’re coming out with the ‘Suga’ strain that’s going to be all around the world. That was my issue with the last one. It was only in California. We couldn’t get it out of California so it didn’t do as good. But I think we’re about to get in with a ‘Suga’ strain in the next couple of months, maybe a little bit longer. But I think that’s going to be my whiskey business like Conor. I think that’s going to do the best. So we’re getting into all the industries.”
There is no word yet on when O’Malley’s apparel line will hit the stores or what kind of price point there is going to be.
