UFC 229: Sean O'Malley Talks Fortnite, Exclusive Reebok Shirts & More

UFC 229: Sean O'Malley Talks Fortnite, Exclusive Reebok Shirts & More

Rising UFC bantamweight star Sean O'Malley discusses his upcoming fight vs. Jose Quinonez at UFC 229, Fortnite, Reebok shirts, and more with Top Turtle MMA.

Sep 23, 2018 by Daniel Vreeland
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In 2017, UFC bantamweight Sean O’Malley fought four times, including twice in a seven-week span. 

Needless to say, the 23-year-old MMA Lab product likes to stay busy. However, thanks to a foot injury suffered during his UFC 222 bout against Andre Soukhamthath, “Suga's” upcoming bout with Jose Quinonez Oct. 6 at UFC 229 will be only his second this year and his first in seven months.

Although he had to wait all that time to get back in the cage, don’t think for a second he was bored. 

“It’s been fine. I’ve been super busy playing Fortnite,” O'Malley said. “I’ve been enjoying playing Fortnite and I really don’t feel like I was out too long."

While there are plenty of young men and women in the world right now who’ve dumped a load of time into today’s hottest video game, it’s not the same for the UFC bantamweight. Instead of a hobby he tackles on the side, O’Malley uses Fortnite as a new career. 

“I’m thinking of Fortnite as a business,” O’Malley said. “I’m running a Twitch channel, have a bunch of subscribers, it’s a business… I’m a pretty big gamer, I play a lot. I stream every day. I’m consistently streaming.”

Although there doesn’t seem to be much of a connection between smashing faces and smashing buttons, there does seem to be a large crossover between his fans on either end. 

“People like to watch me game, they like to hear what I have to say, they like to ask me stuff—most of the questions are about the UFC,” O’Malley said. “Kind of just works out for me that I’m in the UFC and that’s my audience.”

They come for the questions about his career, but O’Malley prides himself on keeping them there with his personality, which clearly is a selling point in both of his endeavors. 

“You’ve got to be kind of a character on the cam, and not even a character—that’s just who I am,” O'Malley said. “When I die [in the game], I’m a little upset and stuff.”

That outspoken nature now has him getting plenty of attention in the MMA world, with Reebok signing him to a deal. That has seen his signature shirt—a vibrant, tie-dye shirt with his face on it—become a bestseller on their site. 

And, as he states it, they're just getting started.

“I now have three Reebok shirts," O'Malley said. “There are two they haven’t put on their website.”

One of the two new shirts will have a familiar theme to his loyal fans of both his pursuits.

“They sent me a picture of the [first one], and it kind of had a Fortnite theme,” O'Malley said.

These two new offerings have O’Malley getting even more excited for his fight and what the future holds for him with both Reebok and the UFC.

“The other two are insanely awesome—I love them,” O’Malley said. “I’m predicting they’ll sell out just as well as the first one did.”