It came as quite a shock to UFC fans when bantamweight contender Sean O’Malley quit social media last month. The decision signaled a major reset for the American fighter, as he prepares for his title rematch with Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 316.
O’Malley headed into his first fight with Merab carrying a long-term hip injury as well as reports of a lack of preparation for the title bout. ‘Suga’ would go on to lose his title at UFC 306 to Merab by unanimous decision. From the outside looking in, it may have been the best thing that’s ever happened to his career.
The #14 pound-for-pound fighter boasts 4.5 million followers on Instagram, which has perpetuated O’Malley’s hard partying lifestyle. However, his social media persona has also fueled much of his popularity with UFC fans and has, to a certain degree, improved his marketability as a fighter.
But it seems that the nature of that UFC 306 loss to Merab has awoken a new version of O’Malley. One that is happy to dispense with all the distractions, and not just social media either.
Speaking to Jake Shields on the Fight Back podcast, O’Malley’s coach and close friend Tim Welch revealed the extent of the fighter’s lifestyle changes and how that’s benefited his training approach.
“He’s been checking all the boxes,” revealed Welch. “He’s been dialing in, he doesn’t go out to the clubs. We get invited to clubs all the time, free bottles, free tables, free this. ‘You want to come to this event?’ And he says no to all of it.
“Right now you can’t even contact him. He doesn’t check Instagram, he doesn’t check Twitter. You can’t even get in contact with him if you want. So he’s out on his farm and we’re training. We’re trying to check all the boxes, giving us the best opportunity to beat this little f**ker,” Welch elaborated.
O’Malley’s lifestyle changes fail to impress
In the time between the two Merab fights, O’Malley has revealed that smoking weed led to anxiety that hindered his fight preparation. Speaking on The TimboSugaShow, O’Malley discussed other changes that he’s made ahead of UFC 316.
“I quit gaming. I did a lot of gaming, two or three hours a day, and I need to fill it with something,” said O’Malley. “We’ve been playing a lot of Texas hold ‘em poker with the fellas. It’s been too fun.”
O’Malley was avoiding the substance ahead of his fight, but hadn’t ruled out smoking again in the future. “I’m not done smoking forever, but just right now I don’t feel the need to, and I just don’t have any desire to.”
These unexpected changes are at odds with O’Malley’s previous image. As an MMA fighter and personality, he attracted both notoriety and criticism for his flashy ‘style over substance’ exterior. It’s an aspect of his psychology that aligns him with his opponent, Merab Dvalishvili.
While Merab’s fighting style is rooted in his resilience, he is known for unnecessarily taunting his opponents during fights.
During his previous title defense, Merab taunted Umar Nurmagomedov after a successful takedown near the fight’s conclusion. And during a 2024 fight, Merab engaged in conversation with Mark Zuckerberg while grappling with Henry Cejudo.
As well as taunting Tim Welch during his last fight with ‘Suga’, Merab also kissed O’Malley on the back while he had the American grounded with a submission.
Merab’s made it clear that he is looking to cement his own online persona, and perhaps O’Malley could see similar distractions seeping into Merab’s preparations for the fight. Not that it mattered, as he tapped out to a gullotine from Merab at UFC 316 over the weekend.
