Sean O’Malley was well aware of the potential conditions when he signed up for his UFC White House fight.
On June 14, the premier promotion finally hosts their UFC White House event after several months of build up and anticipation.
The event that is set to be one of the most unique combat sports events of all time is going to take place outdoors on the South Lawn of the White House, which has resulted in a lot of planning.
And although there is palpable anticipation for the event, UFC commentator Joe Rogan doesn’t think it is sensible for the fights to take place outdoors.
Choose which man will leave the White House as the undisputed UFC lightweight champion on June 14!
O’Malley reacts to Rogan’s comments as he backs historic event
This isn’t the first bit of criticism Rogan has had for the one-of-a-kind event, as when it was first announced, he expressed his concerns with the timing of it.
The longtime UFC icon then went on to call the event a gimmick, which Donald Trump surprisingly agreed with, while attempting to put a positive take on it.
Rogan’s main concern at the moment is the fact that the fights will take place outdoors, open to the elements and potential extreme heat.
The 58-year-old believes that could affect the integrity of the fights, potentially opening up the chance for something out of the fighters’ control to affect the fight.
Despite Rogan’s concerns and criticism, former UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley, who takes on Aiemann Zahabi on the card, has somewhat disagreed with Rogan’s take, defending the event.
“It’s definitely, it’s at the White House so you’ve got to deal with whatever you’ve got to deal with,” O’Malley told MMAJunkie.
“It would suck to lose because of a reason outside of your skillset, may the best man win. If something plays a role because it’s outside and it affects the fight somehow that would suck, it’s unfortunate, but none of us signed the contract thinking it was inside.
“We all know it’s outside, we all know what we’re getting into, maybe not to an extent, we don’t know all of what’s gonna happen, but we all know it’s gonna be outside and we’ve got to possibly deal with stuff. We all signed (the contract).”
The former UFC bantamweight champion trains and resides in Arizona, which is known for its blistering heat.
Despite that, it is unclear whether the 31-year-old has adapted his training for the fact that he will be competing outside for the first time.
Ahead of his UFC lightweight title unification fight, Ilia Topuria has adapted his training to incorporate training sessions outdoors, hoping that it will help him prepare for the unusual elements on June 14.
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