Former UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley isn’t planning on an extended hiatus from competitors after UFC 316.
Sean O’Malley‘s try at redemption towards UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili fell brief at UFC 316 final Saturday in Newark. Regardless of a aggressive back-and-forth begin between O’Malley and Dvalishvili, Dvalishvili submitted O’Malley with a north-south choke within the third spherical in a shocking end.
Dvalishvili’s victory over O’Malley was his second of their rivalry within the final 9 months. He dethroned O’Malley by unanimous resolution at UFC 306 in September.
O’Malley is in a peculiar place within the bantamweight title image. Except one other contender takes Dvalishvili’s throne, it could possibly be some time for him to get one other title shot.
Sean O’Malley shares preliminary UFC return timeline after UFC 316 loss
O’Malley’s scenario is just like that of Max Holloway‘s, who opted to remain at featherweight regardless of three losses to Alexander Volkanovski. When Ilia Topuria knocked out Volkanovski at UFC 298, Holloway was the following man up for the title shot, dropping to Topuria within the first knockout defeat of his profession.
However regardless of an attractive featherweight transfer on the desk, O’Malley appears content material in competing towards one other one of many high bantamweight contenders for his return.
Throughout a latest episode of the TimboSugarShow, O’Malley hinted at what’s subsequent for his UFC profession and when he plans on returning to the cage.
“The division’s gonna play out over the following few months,” O’Malley stated.
“We’ll see the place it goes. December looks like it might make sense for me to get again in there…Umar [Nurmagomedov is so f—- expert, everybody within the Prime 5, Prime 10 is so expert.
“It’s good to not take into consideration a struggle proper now, I don’t need to know proper now.”
Earlier than his back-to-back losses to Dvalishvili, O’Malley knocked out Aljamain Sterling for the bantamweight title earlier than defending it towards Marlon Vera at UFC 299. His present two-fight dropping skid is the primary dropping streak of O’Malley’s profession.
Main as much as UFC 316, O’Malley’s coach Tim Welch hinted at a future transfer to featherweight after describing how tough the lower to 135 lbs is turning into for the previous titleholder. However O’Malley appeared in peak form for UFC 316, regardless of falling to the budding famous person Dvalishvili on struggle night time.
Sean O’Malley doesn’t rule out featherweight transfer after UFC 316
If and when O’Malley makes the transfer to 145 lbs, there are a number of intriguing matchups that would entice the previous bantamweight titleholder. After Volkanovski reclaimed the featherweight throne earlier this yr at UFC 314, a matchup with O’Malley may make quite a lot of sense for either side.
However Volkanovski is rumored to face a well-known foe for his subsequent title protection, with high contender Movsar Evloev‘s desired title shot hitting an surprising delay. It’s speculated that Yair Rodriguez will get a rematch with Volkanovski for the following featherweight title matchup.
No matter who O’Malley faces subsequent within the Octagon, it’ll be one other marquee struggle. Whereas a trilogy with Dvalishvili is unlikely to happen anytime quickly, don’t be shocked if O’Malley fights his means again to face the champ.
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