Crisis averted — at least for “Sugar’s” face.
After sending the MMA internet into a collective spiral with what appeared to be a massive “Doing Well” forehead tattoo tied to an alleged eight-figure sponsorship, former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley has confirmed what many fans hoped all along: the tattoo was never real.
Instead, it was a calculated — and wildly successful — marketing stunt.
In a video posted to his social media, O’Malley walked fans through the entire process, admitting that while he leaned hard into the idea of branding his forehead, he ultimately stopped short of actually turning himself into a human billboard.
“As you know, UFC doesn’t let us bring our own sponsors into the Octagon,” O’Malley explained. “What better place to put a brand deal than on your forehead?”
O’Malley even documented himself sitting in a tattoo chair, visibly nervous, joking about regret, commitment, and the insanity of the idea as linework was mocked up on his face. For a moment, it genuinely looked like he was about to go through with it.
“I regret it instantly,” he laughed at one point. “What am I doing?”
“Alright, fellas, I’m actually not getting a giant billboard face tattoo,” O’Malley said. “I should… but I’m not.”
While he did get two smaller “Doing Well” tattoos, the infamous forehead ink never happened. And according to O’Malley, that was the point all along.
The reaction was immediate: articles, headlines, viral debates, and millions of impressions — including MMAMania.com — questioning whether the tattoo was even real. O’Malley admitted the buzz exceeded expectations and confirmed the campaign was designed to promote his upcoming brand, Doing Well.
“Wow, did the marketing campaign work,” he said. “Millions of impressions, tons of emails on the sign-up list… this is gonna be massive.”
Love it or hate it, O’Malley pulled off exactly what he intended: he got people talking.
And thankfully, he did it without permanently tattooing a slogan across his forehead — at least for now.
