Just a few weeks after announcing that he’d like to enjoy an extended period of rest and recovery on the sidelines, former UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley is already itching to get back in the octagon.
Whilst ‘Suga’ knows that he certainly can’t rush his comeback, having only recently gone under the knife for corrective surgery, the flashy American superstar already has a return timeline in mind.
Sean O’Malley offers crucial update on his timeline for UFC return
Following his decision loss to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306, Sean O’Malley would reveal that he was set to undergo surgery to correct a torn labrum in his hip and now that the surgery has been successfully completed, ‘Suga’ is itching to get back into the octagon.
After breaking down the main card of UFC 307 via his official YouTube channel, the former bantamweight champion would offer fans a key update on when he could make his return to action.
“Got surgery on Thursday, today’s Saturday – it’s been f***** two days, and I feel f***** great. I’m going to come back better than ever… I’m going to do everything right, I’m going to recover as fast as I possibly can and I’m going to get back to it.
“Everyone’s like ‘Don’t come back too soon’, I’m coming back the right amount of soon, but I want to be back ASAP… I want to get these fights in while I’m still young enough, I turned 30 this month.
The flashy striking specialist explained how “I want to recover and do everything right,” as he targets a return to action in either late Q1 or early Q2 2025.
“I’d like to get back in there maybe April, May, June [2025] at the latest… June could be the latest, but I think that I could be back before that; March maybe, that would be crazy but who knows? I’m just going with the flow, day by day.”
Luckily, less than 12 hours later, Sean O’Malley would be called out by one of the best strikers in the entire division for a fight that’s been labeled as ‘the biggest fight you can make’ at 135lbs.
Sean O’Malley gets called out for ‘the biggest fight you can make’ at bantamweight
Only a few hours after Sean O’Malley confirmed that he’d like to return between March and June 2025, ‘Suga’ would be accused of holding up a long-awaited bout with ‘The Sandman’, Cory Sandhagen.
“I’m kind of in a tough spot, everyone wants to see me and O’Malley fight and now he’s getting a surgery,” Sandhagen explained in conversation with The Schmo.
“Me and O’Malley is like the biggest fight that you could maybe make right now in the division outside of the title fight – maybe even in the [whole] UFC, that’s one of the best fights that the UFC could make.
“O’Malley, I wish would just quit acting like a troll, like he won that last fight [when] he got dominated… Fight me, what are you doing?”
Sandhagen’s last fight took place back in August of this year, a unanimous decision loss to undefeated contender and likely next bantamweight title challenger, Umar Nurmagomedov.
“I told the UFC that I wanted to come back in December, but there’s no one to fight,” admitted Sandhagen, with former champion Petr Yan having just been booked against Deiveson Figueiredo for November.
“I wouldn’t want until July – I want to stay active, and I don’t know why he wants such a long layoff but that’s what happens when you have your first loss, you know… They should do me vs O’Malley in April or March [2025] for a big main event somewhere.
“There’s no question, that is the only fight in the division that is the most exciting fight… If he wins, he could maybe fight for the title afterwards and if I win, I think I’ll definitely be fighting for a title after that too.”
Whilst the UFC has not yet announced its schedule for Q1 2025, there’s no question that the promotion would be delighted if they could book Sandhagen vs O’Malley for the main event of a Fight Night card – especially if they are planning on returning to either home state of Arizona or Colorado.
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