UFC bantamweight Sean O’Malley was tapped out by Robert Degle in the finals of a recent jiu-jitsu tournament.

O’Malley is coming off the back of a devastating defeat at the hands of Marlon “Chito” Vera, and as he continues to wait for an opportunity to get back to winning ways inside the Octagon, he is using the time away to compete in a different martial arts competition.

After John Danaher brown belt Degle picked up the win via heel hook, he had nothing but great things to say about O’Malley.

 

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Had a great opportunity to compete against the rising UFC star @sugaseanmma in a @grapplingindustries event here in Phoenix, Arizona. For Sean to compete in such an event demonstrates a very respectable desire to grow as a martial artist. Realistically he had nothing practical to gain by doing this event. The man has over a million followers and is surely making bank in MMA. So why do the event? We spoke afterwards and he explained that he simply loved JuJitsu. I hope the experience of competing against me helps push him to further development as a martial artist. I was a fan before but an even bigger one now 🙏

A post shared by Robert Degle (@robertdeglebjj) on Sep 20, 2020 at 4:03pm PDT

“Had a great opportunity to compete against the rising UFC star Sean O’Malley in a @grapplingindustries event here in Phoenix, Arizona,” Degle wrote. “For Sean to compete in such an event demonstrates a very respectable desire to grow as a martial artist. Realistically he had nothing practical to gain by doing this event. The man has over a million followers and is surely making bank in MMA. So why do the event? We spoke afterwards and he explained that he simply loved JuJitsu. I hope the experience of competing against me helps push him to further development as a martial artist. I was a fan before but an even bigger one now.”

What do you think should be next for Sean O’Malley?