Many former foes, rivals and contemporaries quickly compounded the frustrations felt by his main event defeat – as expected – but now former UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley won’t have a chance to stay active in attempting at reclaiming gold as he awaits surgery on a torn labrum in his left hip next month, an injury potentially sidelining him for a full calendar year.
Overpromised, underdelivered
- O’Malley revealed he tore his left labrum in his hip 10 weeks out from fight night, and will undergo surgery on Oct. 3 – he won’t fight again until May or June 2025 at the earliest, depending on speed of recovery
- When asked after DWCS, UFC chief Dana White bristled back on the notion that in this instance, there was much they could’ve done to prevent O’Malley fighting while carrying a pre-existing injury, as it was one he didn’t disclose and their doctors didn’t know to check for
- Aljamain Sterling was pressured into agreeing terms with O’Malley to defend his crown, subsequently losing it, before revealing he too was injured heading into that matchup and it only served to hurt his chances
- Cory Sandhagen, Petr Yan and Henry Cejudo among those who’ve already called Suga for a showdown after his first defeat at championship level, having avenged his Marlon Vera defeat in a successful March title defence
ANYWHERE between six months and a full year is the verdict for now-former UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley, after a drab showing in his second title defence vs. newly-crowned 135lb king Merab Dvalishvili at the weekend.
Judging by developments elsewhere, the Georgian’s tireless style has already seen him doomed to the tag of divisional placeholder until he indulges unbeaten contender Umar Nurmagomedov at some stage, the latter watching on cageside as the 1#1 contender experienced a scouting mission he’ll never forget in the Sphere.
Umar was a clear winner against perennial contender Cory Sandhagen last month in Saudi Arabia, winning their title eliminator with five completed takedowns and 52% significant strike accuracy (98 of 187) to become next in-line for the eventual victor – a familiar face in Dvalishvili, unhappy with questions about their matchup.
O’Malley declined the opportunity to speak with reporters and instead provided an honest debrief on his TimboSugarShow podcast with head coach Tim Welch, admitting he learned an important lesson from this fight camp – confidence is one thing, overpromising eventualities not fully in your control is another.
On that episode, he said he’d be out for nine months but didn’t go into details for a lengthy layoff. Elsewhere he did so, saying: “I have surgery on Oct. 3, tore my left labrum in my hip, that’s the only reason I’m going to be out for so long.
This surgery should only take two months to come back from, then a couple months recovery, so a year is a long time. It could be six-to-eight months but you never know, UFC won’t be the same without me.”
O’Malley said he suffered the injury ten weeks ago, but still went ahead with a full training camp before having many observers criticise his performance for lacking its usual rhythm and intensity here.
In the pre-fight promo video, he stressed Dvalishvili’s cardio – as good as it is – wouldn’t be enough to beat him, insisting the same fate which followed former champion and training partner Aljamain Sterling would also befall the Georgian.
Instead, the 29-year-old has seen his seven-fight unbeaten streak end rather abruptly and stock fall too on a night where the promotion indulged him as their only existing
Contender Series graduate to hold championship gold.
Light-heavyweight contender Jamahal Hill was the other up until a serious injury prompted him to relinquish the title last year, and hasn’t exactly earned himself any favours with how he’s handled his Alex Pereira stoppage defeat back in April.
On appearing hesitant and a post-fight inquest, he said: “Best weight cut, felt good, no excuses. Nothing was wrong, I just got beat. Everyone keeps asking me like, ‘something seemed off, different, (you were) flat-footed… I got out-strengthed, knew what to do in certain positions, he was just stronger.”
While O’Malley was praised for his honesty when discussing his takeaways from a second career defeat, some were left uninspired by contrasting social media comments – he poked fun at himself by posting a picture wearing a wrestling singlet before compartmentalising defeat the same way many do.
Whether the new champion likes it or not, Dvalishvili vs. Umar Nurmagomedov will probably be made for the first quarter of 2025 on another Middle East card and other moving pieces are sure to unfold as O’Malley watches from the sidelines plotting.
Umar’s manager Ali Abdelaziz has this week suggested Suga could very well get an immediate title shot on his return, a move that wouldn’t go down well considering those on the outside looking in like former foe Petr Yan, himself a previous titleholder and two-division champion Henry Cejudo. In any case, we’ll have to wait and see.
Picture source: Getty Images
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