After Sean O’Malley’s disappointing performance during his bantamweight title loss against Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306 on Saturday night, other leading fighters in the division are now queuing up to fight him.
“Over promised under delivered, sorry, love you guys,” O’Malley had stated on social media after the fight, and that was a sentiment Dana White agreed with.
“He looked flat,” White said at the UFC 306 post-fight press conference. “He didn’t look sharp.”
“He didn’t look crisp until the last round,” White continued. “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.”
So O’Malley will have to prove himself all over again when he next returns to the Octagon, and he won’t be short of potential opponents as he’s already received numerous call-outs.
“Merab found the formula to Sean! Let me at him next #UFC306,” former flyweight and bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo wrote.
And Cejudo couldn’t resist also having a go at O’Malley’s lack of wrestling defense.
“Hey O’Methyl…You wanted to be the next Conor McGregor-well now you are,” Cejduo said on X. “Neither of you bums can defend a takedown. I’m teaching “Wrestling for Cokeheads” at 8 AM. See you in the morning.”
Meanwhile, Petr Yan has made it clear he is eager to run back his fight with O’Malley from 2022, which he lost by split-decision.
“I never considered Sean a real champion because he was gifted decision against me in Abu Dhabi,” Yan wrote on X. “Rematch season is open, so see you soon.”
And finally Cory Sandhagen also believes this is the perfect time for him to go up against ‘Suga’ Sean.
“Watching Merab win the title [fast-forward emoji] realizing you get Sandman v Suga because of it,” Sandhagen wrote. “Congrats, Merab. You earned it, man. O’Malley, time to give the people what they want. I don’t promise to not kiss you.”
