What’s Next For Sean O’Malley?

UFC 306 went down last Saturday night (Sept. 14, 2024) inside The Sphere in Las Vegas, Nevada, leaving several fighters feeling the post-fight blues. Among them was Alexa Grasso, who was dominated by Valentina Shevchenko for 25 minutes, ultimately leading to her losing the women’s Flyweight title.

And Brian Ortega, who was outclassed by Diego Lopes. And let’s not forget about Irena Aldana, who was out-worked by Norma Dumont, and went home with a massive cut on her forehead as a result of a head clash (pictures here). But which fighter is suffering from the worst post-fight hangover, now a few days removed from the show?

Sean O’Malley.

Coming into the event, “Suga” was looking to lock down his second title defense after initially defending the 135-pound strap against Marlon Vera earlier in the year. O’Malley tried to troll Dvalishvili by proclaiming that he had his eyes on Featherweight king, Ilia Topuria, instead of granting “The Machine” a shot.

Hindsight being 20/20, it might have been a better idea if O’Malley went that route.

That’s because Dvalishvili absolutely dominated the now-former champion for 25 minutes with his aggressive pace and wrestling. As if O’Malley’s lackadaisical defense wasn’t bad enough, his offense wasn’t much better. In fact, it may have been worse because other than a late surge in the final round, “Suga” didn’t have much to offer.

And it was enough to draw criticism from UFC Ceo, Dana White.

“He looked flat. He didn’t look sharp,” said White during the post-fight press conference. He didn’t look crisp until the last round. He hurt him with that body shot and he knew he hurt him with the body shot, and he kept going in trying to finish. But I looked at the punch stats, it was like six in a couple of the rounds.”

O’Malley himself didn’t have much to say after the defeat, skipping out on talking to the media, opting to deliver a short message on social media, instead.

“Over promised under delivered. Sorry. Love you guys,” he posted on X.

O’Malley is the latest fighter that comes off as a sore loser by ducking out on the media after a tough loss. His absence is magnified a bit more because the rainbow-haired fighter loves the spotlight when things are going his way.

While it’s understandable to be a bit somber, toughing it up and handling your duties as a professional in the toughest of times would endear him to fans a bit more.

Nevertheless, “Suga’s” loss is a crucial one because he was quick to proclaim that he was on his way to passing Conor McGregor as the biggest start in the sport. Now, he will find that his road back to a title fight will be a bit tougher because the Top 5 fighters who will be gunning for him are no slouches, and a second straight defeat would be devastating.

As far as who he should face next, perhaps a fight against Cory Sandhagen is in order. “Sandman” is ranked No. 4 at the moment and is coming off a loss to Umar Nurmagomedov, who will likely be facing Dvalishvili in his first title defense.

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