O’Malley believes he’s exactly the kind of colorful character and crossover star Zuffa Boxing needs to break through as the upstart company seeks to make a splash across the sweet science.

“I'm so curious where boxing is going to go,” O’Malley said on his YouTube channel. “I've seen all the promotions. It's going to take [Zuffa Boxing] signing a superstar. Someone that just captivates, someone that you're like, ‘I got to watch him fight.' The fighters they are promoting in the main events [for now], I don't know if that's it.”

O’Malley (19-3, 12 KOs, 1 submission in MMA) has a pro boxing bout under his belt. The 31-year-old from Arizona scored a first-round TKO in 2016, his lone boxing match.

“Find me a 5-0 boxer – build me up slowly,” said O’Malley. “I want to be paid reasonably, but you don't have to pay me [crazy money]. A few racks to fight a 3-0, 4-0 guy on Zuffa Boxing. I would love to do that. That would be interesting. I really feel that my style can transition. God, that would be fun.

“But you can't question Dana White. It has potential. I would love to transition into boxing. Suga versus Gervonta Davis, that would be sick. I would love to do that.”

In recent years, O’Malley has had social media spats with Davis, Devin Haney, Shakur Stevenson and Ryan Garcia, but nothing meaningful has materialized outside of keyboard combat.

O'Malley won the UFC's bantamweight belt by beating Aljamain Sterling in 2023 and defended the title against Marlon Vera in 2024 before back-to-back losses to Merab Dvalishvili.

O'Malley is coming off a unanimous-decision win against Song Yadong in January.

Manouk Akopyan is The Ring’s lead writer. Follow him on X and Instagram: @ManoukAkopyan