Sean O’Malley says he will always take inspiration from Conor McGregor.

‘Suga’ drew several comparisons to the Irishman throughout his rise from the regional scene to a UFC world title, a relationship which, despite a few hurdles along the way, continues towards this weekend’s UFC 316 in Newark, New Jersey, where O’Malley will seek a measure of revenge against the man he lost the 135-pound title to, Merab Dvalishvili.

O’Malley has released several promotional clips to social media ahead of his battle with the Georgian champion late on Saturday night — with McGregor responding to one, saying that his preparations reminded him of his own ahead of his rematch against Nate Diaz in August 2016, and adding that the UFC 316 main event has a “big fight feel.”

And questioned on the interaction by reporters, including The Mac Life, at the UFC 316 media day on Wednesday, O’Malley said that he will always have positive feelings towards the Irishman due to what he accomplished in the cage.

“Hell yeah, I’ll take it,” O’Malley said.

“I’ll forever be a huge Conor fan. I feel grateful to be able to watch his come up in my generation, I watched it happen. I think we’ll look back, he had one of the craziest careers. It’s cool to be able to watch it happen while I was getting into the UFC and everything. I’m pumped the relationship is back to good.”

He added: “I’ve always taken inspiration from Conor fights. I’ve watched Conor fights more than probably any (fights), well, (I watch) my fights more, but I’ve watched a lot of Conor fights.”

O’Malley also explained that McGregor’s second outing against Diaz, which came after he was defeated by the Californian several months prior, has informed his perception of how to approach a rematch against an opponent who has already defeated him.

“So I was watching Conor-Nate. I’ve just been watching a bunch of fights,” he said. “We just have cameras recording so much, I didn’t realise that was a moment that got captured. So I was watching Conor-Nate. I’ve just been watching a bunch of fights, we just have cameras recording so much. I didn’t realise that was a moment that got captured. I’ve been watching a bunch of fights. I’ve been watching some rematches.”