Coach compares skidding Sean O’Malley to former UFC stars Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal

Coach Tim Welch has made an interesting comparison between his star pupil Sean O’Malley and former UFC stars Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz.

O’Malley is the former UFC bantamweight champion, but lost his belt with a decision defeat to Georgia’s Merab Dvalishvili last September. He was then given a shot at redemption at UFC 316 earlier this month, but suffered an even worse defeat to Dvalishvili, this time tapping to a late submission.

Now riding two straight losses, things have gotten somewhat bleak for O’Malley. However, Welch isn’t overly concerned with his student’s recent losses—at least not in terms of his popularity with fans.

As he noted, former UFC stars Masvidal and Diaz both have double-digit losses on their records, and remain some of the biggest stars in MMA.

What does Sean O’Malley have in common with Diaz and Masvidal?

“Look at Nate Diaz, how big of a star he is,” Welch said on his YouTube channel (via MMA Fighting). “How many losses does he have? Jorge Masvidal, how many losses does he have? They’re still just f*cking huge draws. Huge stars.”

While O’Malley is certainly still a big star despite his recent losses, it will definitely be interesting to see where he goes from here. It’s possible he’ll get another shot at the belt at some point, but he’ll have to move mountains to make it happen as long as Dvalishvili is on the throne.

Welch, for his part, just wants O’Malley to get back in there ASAP.

“It’s so hard to say with him,” he said. “But again, right now we’re not going to clubs, we’re not f*cking partying, we’re saying no to trips. So what else are we going to do?

“We’re coming to the gym twice a day. We’re going to train. Might as well [fight]. Might as well not let these years go by. He’s only 30 years old. Might as well just knock them out. Let’s just keep knocking them out.”

What do you think the future holds for Sean O’Malley?