LAS VEGAS — Helena native Sean O’Malley didn’t follow a typical mixed martial arts blueprint on his way to UFC stardom.
Lots of champions had successful careers in other combat sports before transitioning to mixed martial arts.
Middleweight greats Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya were world kickboxing champions. Daniel Cormier and Henry Cejudo were Olympic wrestlers before breaking into UFC and winning titles.
But Sean built all of his skills from scratch in Helena.
It was evident in his amateur days that Sean was a gifted striker with a resume full of highlight-reel knockouts.
However, after a one-sided loss to a wrestler early in his career, Sean sought the help of Montana’s first black belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu — Jim Collins, the current owner of the Last Chance Grappling Club in Helena.
“It was after his first and only loss his coach came to me and said he needed to work on his ground game and jiu jitsu,” Collins said. “So Sean came and started training with me.”
Collins is a third degree black belt with decades of elite level experience both as a competitor and coach. He didn’t typically train mixed martial artists, preferring to operate his gym for everyday people interested in grappling.
But he made an exception for O’Malley.
“My morning class was at 5:30 a.m. and Sean would be there every day, waiting in his car for the doors to open,” Collins said. “I was impressed with his work ethic.”
"He wanted to get better," Collins said. "He knew where his holes were too and he wanted to get better. And he was real gifted.”
O’Malley improved quickly and embraced the work. Collins had seen lots of athletes start training and give up when it became too hard. But not Sean.
“Jiu Jitsu requires the ability to be comfortable being uncomfortable and having that grit and just being able to grind through,” Collins said. “There's no hack to be good in jiu jitsu or wrestling. It's about showing up and training. There's no shortcut to being good. You've got to put in the work.”
To this day, O’Malley is still best known as a striker. He hasn’t had to showcase his ground game so far in his UFC career. But training with Collins, coach Tim Welch and former Brazilian Jiu Jitsu world champion Augusto Mendes has made him a complete fighter.
And if his fight with Merab Dvalishvili does go to the ground at UFC 306 on Saturday at Sphere in Las Vegas, many fans and viewers might be surprised.
“Sean may not have been the most skilled as an amateur, but he was so creative, he was able to find ways to win,” Collins said. “And I think you see it now. He's the best in the world at what he does, and he's creative. Don’t sleep on his ground game, he doesn't have to use it. But if he was to have to, I think he would give people problems.”
