UFC star Sean O’Malley believes he should have backed up Josh Hokit during the recent press conference drama they featured in.

As we know, Sean O’Malley will be making his grand return to the cage later this month when he battles Aiemann Zahabi as part of the blockbuster UFC Freedom 250 card. Many feel like he is the favorite, and if he is able to get the job done, he will likely set himself up for another crack at the world title in the bantamweight division.

RELATED: Sean O’Malley presents ‘loser’ ultimatum to Aiemann Zahabi ahead of UFC White House clash

During the recent press conference for that event, Josh Hokit got into it with both Alex Pereira and Ilia Topuria in what proved to be a pretty intense back and forth. O’Malley, meanwhile, stayed pretty relaxed throughout the whole thing, opting to sit it out and not favor either side, which seemed like the right decision.

In a recent interview, though, O’Malley responded to Hokit for suggesting that he should have gotten in the mix.

O’Malley discusses Hokit incident

“Dammit, I’m not on social so I don’t see anything,” O’Malley told MMA Fighting. “I know that whole moment went viral and I didn’t see Hokit saying that. Yeah, maybe I should have. When you’re that close to Alex Pereira, you don’t really think like ‘I might talk some s**t.’ I’m like I’m going to sit here and f*cking shut up.

“But you know what, he’s not wrong. I should have been on Team Hokit. He’s absolutely right. Maybe I should have stepped back a few feet and got behind him and then started talking s**t.”

“I f*cked up,” O’Malley said. “I think what went through my mind, if I don’t do anything and I just sit here still, it would look hilarious. That was kind of my thought process and it worked out that way.

“But Hokit was right. I could have spoke up and said something. Nothing comes to mind, but I could have spoke up.”

Quotes via MMA Fighting

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