LAS VEGAS — Mykel O’Malley arrived at the UFC 306 press conference on Thursday night in Las Vegas after driving in from Arizona earlier in the day with his girlfriend and son Zay.
He sat next to his father Dan near the front row and watched as his younger brother, UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley, took the stage to applause.
It was one of several recent milestone moments for Mykel who hadn’t been present for much of Sean’s early career.
“Yeah, this is cool because I missed all those other ones because I was either high or on probation or drunk,” Mykel told MTN Sports. “So this is definitely cool and something that I enjoy.”
Mykel is the oldest of four O’Malley siblings, including Sean, Daniel and Mashayla. He was a superstar athlete at Helena Capital High School just like the rest of his family, but as a teenager his life took a turn.
He started experimenting with alcohol and drugs and then spiraled into addiction. Along the way there were arrests for theft, methamphetamine possession and other infractions.
It got so bad his brother mentally wrote him off.
“Yeah, I thought that dude was definitely going to be dead. I lived in Arizona for like eight years before he moved down,” Sean told MTN Sports. “He was back in Montana addicted to drugs, like way off the deep end. And I was just completely emotionally not attached to him at all. Like, I thought he was going to die eventually.”
Mykel loved his family, but addiction was in control.
“I didn’t really have much of a serious relationship with anyone in my family during that time. I kind of just kept to myself so I could do what I wanted to do,” Mykel said. “There were ups and downs. I ran a company successfully for a while. There were times when I was homeless and times when I felt really good. But it was a crazy life for sure.”
Eventually Mykel became a father to Aria and Isaiah (Zay) and came to a realization. If he wanted to be present in his children’s lives, he needed to make a change. So Mykel left Montana and moved to Arizona where Sean had offered him a place to stay. He began to turn his life around with the support of his family. He has full custody of Zay, who recently started kindergarten, and didn’t want to jeopardize their relationship.
In November he’ll have been sober for two years.
“I wouldn’t have wanted to change honestly. It’s just something I had to do so I could raise my son,” Mykel said. “I mean, if it wasn’t for him, I probably wouldn’t have wanted to change, you know?”
And while it’s hard to top winning a UFC title, Sean and Mykel’s father Dan O’Malley, a former Helena narcotics officer, said his oldest son’s fight against addiction is perhaps his greatest source of pride.
“Somebody asked me how I could be more proud of anybody than I am of Sean and I told them I’m more proud of Mykel who overcame methamphetamine and alcohol addiction after 10 years,” Dan said. “Mykel and my relationship has been restored. It’s amazing. He's got two kids and I'm super close to the two kids. We talk all the time on the phone, and him and Sean do a lot together.”
Mykel is in a good place. And the O’Malley family is grateful to have their older brother back.
“For him to get sober and move to Arizona and be a part of my life now is inspiring,” Sean said. “Because addiction is no joke. He battles that every day, but he’s winning. It’s cool to see, I’m very proud of him.”
For his part, Mykel said he has no regrets. There are things in his life he's not proud of, but addiction and mental health struggles are part of his journey. And he wouldn’t trade the harmony he’s found for anything.
“There's times I think about it, but for the most part my life's a million times better now,” he said. “It’s just a road, you know?”
