Sean O’Malley is itching to fight again but unfortunately for him, there’s a surgery he’s got to be at. It’s his hip that has been bothering him for some time and after losing the bantamweight title to Merab Dvalishvili, he’s keen on getting it fixed. And as the Georgian contemplates defending his belt against Umar Nurmagomedov, O’Malley has issued both of them a deadline to abide by.
Nurmagomedov is #2 in the title contender’s list and is likely to get a shot at UFC gold whenever Dvalishvili fights next. But the Georgian seems to be more keen on a rematch with O’Malley. Well, that dream could come true by March of 2025.
‘Suga’ himself believes Nurmagomedov deserves the title shot next. But he wants them to wrap up the business by the end of 2024.
“If unibrow and Merab don’t fight by the end of the year I’m fighting Merab in March. suck my sac if you don’t like that.”
That said, ‘Suga‘ is forgetting that without the belt around his waist anymore, he is not in a position to make demands.
The champion himself has not decided who he will fight yet. Another problem is that all the major PPVs for the rest of the year already have main events. So if the pair do fight before the end of the year, it will be interesting to see what card they go on.
But it is understandable to demand a rematch in O’Malley’s position, given how he was decimated for 5 rounds to lose it. Now, he has the itch to fight again, especially since watching the UFC 307 main event.
O’Malley was left in awe after UFC 307
Sean O’Malley was watching Alex Pereira put on a striking masterclass from the comfort of his home. And as Pereira systematically destroyed Khalil Rountree, the drama of the fight was too much to leave it be.
Rountree gave it his all and went down swinging. They say, keep riding till the wheels fall off. Well, Pereira had to make Rountree’s wheels fall off in the 4th round since the contender was winning by points the entire time. But Poatan was calm, collected, and rarely took a misstep.
In a recent podcast episode of the TimboSugarShow, O’Malley and his coach Tim Welch couldn’t help but praise the Brazilian.
“I wanna fight dude, watching Pereira just put on such a sick performance like that, watching him just break down Khalil to where he was able to start letting his hands go…it was such a sweet f*cking fight, it got me fired up.”
The former UFC bantamweight champion enjoyed watching another striker put on a show for the fans and looking untouchable inside the octagon, a scenario he would very much like to imitate when he fights next.