Former UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley heard from one of his former rivals after UFC 316.
Sean O’Malley‘s attempt at revenge fell short of the mark at UFC 316. UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili forced O’Malley to tap to a north-south choke in Round 3 after a back-and-forth first two rounds of the fight.
UFC 316 marked O’Malley’s second loss to Dvalishvili in nine months. After Dvalishvili’s win, O’Malley is firmly out of the bantamweight title picture unless a new titleholder takes the top spot.
Despite entering UFC 316 off of several lifestyle changes, and a renewed sense of focus in the gym, O’Malley wasn’t able to dethrone Dvalishvili in the Octagon.
Sean O’Malley’s former foe went off on former titleholder after UFC 316 loss
O’Malley’s immediate rematch drew criticism from many in the bantamweight division, after O’Malley defended the belt just one time before losing to Dvalishvili. O’Malley opted to not face another top contender before getting a Dvalishvili rematch.
One of O’Malley’s former foes, a former titleholder who he defeated by a razor-thin margin, enjoyed watching the UFC superstar fall short in his second title shot.
In a recent post to X, former UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan exploded on O’Malley after UFC 316.
“This is what happens when you’re handed things you didn’t earn,” Yan said.
“Back in line, buddy [Sean O’Malley].”
Yan lost to O’Malley by split decision at UFC 280 in what was at the time the toughest test of the latter’s UFC career. Yan most recently defeated Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC Macau last November and is rumored to face a surging prospect next month.
As of this writing, O’Malley hasn’t issued a social media statement after UFC 316. When asked by Joe Rogan about his future plans, O’Malley was non-committal about a potential divisional move.
Sean O’Malley set for potentially drastic career change after UFC 316
In the lead-up to UFC 316, O’Malley’s head coach Tim Welch pitched a potential move to featherweight if the Dvalishvili rematch didn’t go well. Welch claimed that O’Malley’s weight cuts to 135 lbs are becoming increasingly more difficult as he gets older.
O’Malley has never fought at featherweight during his combat sports career. He fought once at flyweight in 2015, a unanimous decision win over Mark Coates at Intense Championship Fighting 23.
O’Malley is in a similar position that Max Holloway was in earlier in his career. After three losses to Alexander Volkanovski, Holloway was on the outside of the featherweight title picture before Ilia Topuria claimed the throne.
As O’Malley plots his next move, Dvalishvili is set for a likely showdown with Cory Sandhagen for his next bantamweight title defense. Sandhagen defeated Figueiredo last month at UFC Des Moines.