They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery — and Jessica-Rose Clark is taking that to heart when it comes to Sean O’Malley.
O’Malley has become one of the brightest prospects in MMA since debuting in the UFC in 2017. Attracting attention as much for his exciting fights as for his flamboyant style, O’Malley frequently sports brightly colored hair alongside his signature body art. Among O’Malley’s most noticeable tattoos are a number of face tattoos, and apparently, “Suga” was first inspired to do so by Clark.
On a recent episode of his podcast, O’Malley admitted that his first face tattoo, a small heart under his right eye, was directly inspired by Clark, who sports a heart tattoo under her left eye. And according to Clark, it came about after she showed O’Malley around Las Vegas one day.
“We had the same management for awhile, so we became friends in Vegas after he won on [Contender Series],” Clark told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour. “He was in town, we got introduced, and I showed him around Vegas a little bit, and then two weeks later I see him and he’s got a face tattoo. I was like, ‘That has to be because of me. There’s no way that he hangs out with me and then goes and gets a face tattoo and doesn’t admit that it was about me.’ But that was the first time he’s admitted that it was because of me, which I’m all for! It looks great on him. Just be honest about it — let me be the inspiration.”
Like O’Malley, Clark is also known for her copious amounts of body art. The Australian fighter said on The MMA Hour that she has around 100 tattoos, many of which are the result of her tattoo artist being one of her best friends. Clark currently sports two face tattoos, the aforementioned heart under her left eye and a small anchor under her right eye, which she explained the significance of to Helwani.
“This one’s a broken heart, and initially it was because my nickname is ‘The Heartbreaker,’ and my ex actually got one on his face and convinced me to get it,” Clark said. “Then I got it colored in purple when I came to the U.S. and left him. I wanted to change it a little bit. And then the anchor, I’d always heard this story — because American traditional tattooing comes from the Navy — so I’d always heard this story about guys in the Navy getting an anchor tattooed on them that was supposed to signify that you were the captain, you were in charge. I also like to be symmetrical. I couldn’t have one and not have the other, so I chose the anchor for that reason.”
Clark is set to face Stephanie Egger at UFC Vegas 48 this Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
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