Sean O’Malley-Raulian Paiva Matchup in the Works for UFC 269, O’Malley Disputes Booking

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A standoff appears to be brewing between the Ultimate Fighting Championship and a fighter it wants to build to stardom.

ESPN broke the news on Thursday night that Sean O'Malley (14-1) will likely be returning to action on Dec. 11 at UFC 269 against Raulian Paiva (21-3) at bantamweight. The matchup has not been made official as the contracts have yet to be signed. On a subsequent Twitch broadcast, per MMA reporter Alex Behunin shortly after the story came out, O’Malley claimed that he had no knowledge of the booking and that it came as a surprise to him.

Should the fight come to fruition, it would be O’Malley’s third in 2021. He knocked Thomas Almeida out in March, and then came back to decimate Kris Moutinho in July to lift his career finish rate to 79%. The victories served as a successful rebound from his first defeat since turning pro in 2015, as he fell short to Marlon Vera by first-round knockout after taking damage from Vera’s leg kicks.

Paiva has rattled off three wins in a row since the lone losing streak of his career, knocking out Mark De La Rosa to put him on his current winning stretch. Two decision triumphs over Zhalgas Zhumagulov and Kyler Phillips – the former a catchweight bout after Paiva missed weight and the latter at bantamweight – have already cinched him a spot in the UFC’s 135-pound rankings. Unlike his opponent, the Brazilian posts a low finish rate of 33%.

Much like this matchup, the UFC 269 headliner of Charles Oliveira vs. Dustin Poirier is currently still not confirmed, but it is expected to go on for lightweight gold. The Dec. 11 show likely to be held in the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas will have three belts on the line that night, with the co-main event Amanda Nunes defending her bantamweight strap against Julianna Pena. The flyweight championship trilogy between Brandon Moreno and Deiveson Figueiredo will be concluded as well on the main card.