We’re not even a month removed from Sean O’Malley’s disappointing title defeat at the hands of Merab Dvalishvili, and “Suga” is already plotting his return.
O’Malley dropped the bantamweight belt to Dvalishvili at UFC 306, losing a unanimous decision to “The Machine” that many scored 49-46 for Merab, two judges cageside scored 48-47 Merab, and the Suga State Athletic Commission scored 47-48 for O’Malley. However you called it, Dvalishvili left the building with the belt and O’Malley left with an injured hip that required surgery.
“Suga” initially suggested it may be a long time before we saw him fight again, but following hip surgery he seems hyped up and ready to get back in the cage as soon as possible. Maybe it’s the competitive fire in him, or maybe it’s the OxyContin. Either way, O’Malley is determined to do the work in rehab and then fight by mid-2025.
“Surgery was Thursday, today’s Saturday,” he said during a UFC 307 reaction video. “It’s been two days, and I feel f—ing great. I’m going to come back better than ever. I’m going to do everything right, I’m going to recover as fast as I possibly can and I’m going to get back to it.”
“Everyone’s like, ‘Don’t come back too soon!’ I’m coming back the right amount of soon, but I want to be back ASAP. I want to get these fights in while I’m still young enough. I turned 30 this month, so I want to recover, do everything right, but I want to get back in there April, May … June will be the latest, like I think I can be back before that. March even would be crazy but who knows, I’m just going with the flow.”
O’Malley has said he wants to fight Umar Nurmagomedov after Umar defeats Merab, but the timing starts to get a bit iffy if “Suga” pulls a speed run on his recovery.
That may not be the worst case scenario. Giving Sean a fight against someone who isn’t a grind wrestler before throwing him back into the title picture could be helpful. Cory Sandhagen is still out there calling out “Suga.” He claims he’s the biggest fight at bantamweight for O’Malley.
That’s probably the most legit, but there’s some other interesting choices out there. Jose Aldo, Dominick Cruz, Henry Cejudo, and Deiveson Figueiredo are all opponents we’d love to see O’Malley against. How about you, Maniacs? Let us know in the comments below who you’d like to see “Suga” fight next if he comes back in early 2025.