Sean O’Malley Says He Is Taking a 'Legit Break' After Title Loss to Merab Dvalishvili

Sean O'Malley is taking a hiatus from the sport after his recent title loss against Merab Dvalishvili.

O’Malley put his bantamweight title on the line against Dvalishvili in the main event at UFC 306 at the Sphere in Las Vegas on Sept. 14. Outside of a last round flurry of teeps to the body that had Dvalishvili visibly hurt, O’Malley was largely on the wrong side of a one-sided beatdown for five rounds. Arguably one of the biggest current stars in the promotion, “Suga” was seen apologizing to Dana White as the scorecards were announced unanimously in favor of Dvalishvili.

O’Malley recently revealed that he will be taking a short hiatus from the sport to fully heal up from injuries. O’Malley won the title with a knockout of Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292 in August 2023. He immediately set up a rematch against Marlon Vera, where he defended his title via a dominant unanimous decision at UFC 299 this past March. By then, Dvalishvili, who was considered the rightful contender over Vera, was already waiting in the ranks for O’Malley. While he has grown accustomed to having an opponent in waiting, O’Malley doesn’t want to plot any matchups after his loss against Dvalishvili.

Though O’Malley claims to have taken more damage against Vera than against Dvalishvili, he also revealed that he will be undergoing surgery in two weeks. Asked about potential timeline for his return, O’Malley mentioned the summer of 2025.

“I probably won’t fight for nine months, 10 months. Maybe a year. It’s gonna be a while,” O’Malley said on his YouTube channel. “People are gonna have to watch the UFC without the ‘Suga Show’ for a little bit… I feel like it’s gonna feel good to take a legit break to get fully healthy. Because you always have little f—-ing whatevers. But it would be nice to take a legit full-on break without something like, ‘Oh this is next, this is next.’ Right after the Aljo fight I knew I had the ‘Chito’ fight, right after the ‘Chito’ fight, I knew I had the Merab fight. Now after this fight nothing’s scheduled.

“I don’t want even – it’s like no one’s next. I gotta get healthy and that’s it. I’m gonna actually heal up from injuries, take my time and come back… I probably won’t fight until June-July next year… Now I have surgery in two weeks, then I’ll be out for probably two months.”

🚨 Sean O’Malley says he’s going to take a break after losing to Merab:

“I probably won’t fight for 9 months, 10 months. Maybe a year. It’s gonna be a while.

People are gonna have to watch the UFC without the Suga Show for a little bit.”

🎥 @SugaSeanMMA #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/4j4KIdhWVV

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) September 17, 2024