Sean O’Malley is not impressed with the UFC’s special White House fight kits, and based on his reaction, he believes they look more like a rushed internet design project than gear meant for one of the promotion’s biggest events yet.

During a recent livestream with The MMA Guru, the former bantamweight champion spoke candidly about the UFC Freedom 250 kits.

“It’s funny you bring that up because I don’t know if I’m even supposed to say it,” he said before dropping the truth-bomb. “But since you brought it up, I feel like I can. They’re ugly. Mine were ugly. I don’t like them. I don’t like them.

“They’re not pink, which is fine, whatever. I’ve worn other colors. Not like I’m not gonna not show up if my shorts aren’t pink. I’ll make my f—— hair pink, whatever. Not a matter.”

That’s not all, as ‘Suga’ further compared the kits to something cheaply outsourced online.

“But I’m just like, did they go on Fiverr and say, ‘Hey, you know, we got these guys getting in a fight at the White House lawn?'” he continued. “Can you just come up with something? Like, I’m like, “Bro, when I was wearing them, they’re white, which is…whatever.”

The criticism came after the Dana White-led promotion unveiled the custom outfits for the June 14 White House card through a promotional shoot with Complex.

Unlike in previous years, where fighters have increasingly chosen gear reflecting their personalities, countries, or custom branding, the UFC Freedom 250 will feature almost everyone wearing nearly identical American-themed kits.

This includes international fighters such as Ilia Topuria and Alex Pereira, both of whom are known for their own signature looks. That appears to be the source of some of the dissatisfaction. The UFC Freedom 250 is being promoted as a once-in-a-lifetime extravaganza celebrating America’s 250th anniversary, with reports suggesting the promotion is spending more than $60 million on the event.

Fans expected something extravagant, especially visually. Instead, many fighters appear to be getting the same white-and-blue template, regardless of personality or style.

Sean O’Malley, who built much of his image on standing out visually as much as athletically, clearly believes that individuality was lost somewhere in the process. To make matters worse, even the UFC White House press conference didn’t go his way.

Sean O’Malley’s star status under question after the UFC White House presser

Seeing how the UFC White House press conference went for Sean O’Malley, no wonder he sounds frustrated. ‘Suga’ was oddly invisible despite being one of the biggest names attached to the event.

While chaos unfolded around him, with Josh Hokit confronting Alex Pereira and Ilia Topuria and security dragging him off stage, the former bantamweight champion mostly sat there quietly watching it all happen like everyone else in the crowd.

Fans were surprised to see that numerous other fighters on stage, including Michael Chandler, Bo Nickal, and Kyle Daukaus, were asked questions by reporters, while O’Malley never got called upon at all. Part of this was likely due to the press conference being cut short following the Hokit and Ilia Topuria incident.

Nonetheless, many online found it strange that a former UFC champion long promoted by Dana White as a crossover-level star played barely any role in the event. And it comes at an interesting point in Sean O’Malley’s career.

His win over Song Yadong earlier this year ended a rough stretch following back-to-back losses against Merab Dvalishvili. Now, as he prepares for his White House bout against Aiemann Zahabi, ‘Suga’ is trying to regain momentum and advance toward another title shot.

But for a fighter whose image has always relied primarily on attention and visibility, being overshadowed at one of the UFC’s crucial promotional events was impossible to ignore.