'It's gonna be a while'… Sean O'Malley provides an update on when he will return following his title loss at UFC 306
17/09/2024 12:24
Following his bantamweight title loss to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306 this past Saturday, Sean O’Malley has spoken for the first time and has given an update on when he will return to the Octagon.
Sean O’Malley‘s 13-month UFC bantamweight title reign came to an end this past Saturday at UFC 306 after Merab Dvalishvili dominated him over five rounds, becoming the new king of the division.
‘Suga’ seemed to struggle to get into the fight from the get-go and only landed anything of note in round five when it was just a little too late.
Sean O’Malley accepts UFC 306 loss, claims nothing was wrong despite speculation
After such a lackluster performance, UFC fans have been claiming that something must’ve been wrong with the 29-year-old heading into the fight as he is normally exciting and impressive whenever he steps into the Octagon.
Despite that, speaking for the first time since losing his title, O’Malley has no excuses for his performance and even claimed that it was one of his best camps ever.
“It was a great fight week, best weight cut, felt good, no excuses, my Mom too, she was like ‘You just weren’t the same, what was wrong?’ and I’m like, ‘Nothing’, I just got beat, there was nothing (wrong). There are 0 excuses,” O’Malley admitted on the recent episode of the Timbo and Sugar Show.
Two of the judges had the fight scored 48-47 to Dvalishvili, meaning there was only one swing round. Former UFC two-weight world champion, Henry Cejudo slammed the judges for their scorecards, claiming that Dvalishvili won every round.
Seemingly, even O’Malley was surprised that two of the judges gave him two of the rounds.
“Damn, if I’d have won one more and those two judges had it, one more round, that’s crazy, that’s weird (to think), that’s crazy,” O’Malley stated.
Sean O’Malley provides an update on when he will return to the Octagon
This is the first time in the 29-year-old’s 20-fight professional career that he has lost the fight convincingly, with his only prior loss coming against Marlon Vera back in 2020, which was a result of a foot injury.
Further reflecting on his loss, the Arizonan believes that he can beat ‘The Machine’ and knows he has the tools to do so.
“I know I can beat him, that’s the thing, that’s what it is, I am undefeated in rematches,” O’Malley teased.
Despite that, the former champion will likely need to pick up an impressive victory before he is considered for another title shot and he has revealed that he will likely take an extended period of time off before returning.
“I probably won’t fight for 9 months, 10 months, maybe a year. Like, it’s gonna be a while, people are gonna have to watch the UFC without the Suga show for a little bit,” he continued.
Dvalishvili will likely have to make his first title defense against the undefeated, Umar Nurmagomedov, despite him stating that he doesn’t think the Russian deserves it.
O’Malley claimed that even if something happened to the Georgian and the UFC implemented an interim title and asked him to fight Nurmagomedov, he would likely say no.
“It’s going to feel good to take a legit break to get fully healthy… No one’s next, I gotta get healthy and that’s it… I probably won’t fight till June or July next year,” the former champion admitted.
