Sean O’Malley is on his means again to motion this weekend and sees this subsequent alternative as an opportunity to soar to heights by no means seen earlier than. The previous UFC bantamweight champion will conflict with No. 5 ranked Tune Yadong at 135 kilos within the modified co-main occasion of UFC 324. Kayla Harrison vs. Amanda Nunes was initially set to be the penultimate bout on the cardboard, however after information broke of Harrison’s damage, O’Malley vs. Yadon turned the co-main occasion of the UFC Kickoff card. 2026.
Whereas some fighters who’ve received and defended UFC gold might have a barely imprecise concept of what’s subsequent, that is not the case with O’Malley. Within the first episode of the embedded collection main as much as UFC 324, with an excerpt posted to the X account @RedCorner_MMA, O’Malley mentioned:
“The Suga Present hasn’t reached its peak but. At one level I needed to be the most important famous person within the UFC, however I actually wasn’t. I used to be all the time there, by no means within the prime two, prime three. I nonetheless really feel like I’ve the potential. I imply, I’ve to go on the market and beat Son (Yadong). I nonetheless see a path to turning into the Suga I needed to be earlier than this all ended.”
Sean O’Malley additionally eyeing a spot on the UFC White Home card
Sean O’Malley has grander plans for what his calendar 12 months will seem like as soon as the fallout from Saturday evening’s match in opposition to Tune Yadong subsides. O’Malley has suffered two setbacks in opposition to Merab Dvalishvili, however has a win over Petr Yan, the person who took the Georgian’s bantamweight belt.
This appears to suit into a few of O’Malley’s broader aspirations for 2026, and he touched on it in his pregame interview with Paramount. Whereas detailing in nice element what the post-UFC 324 imaginative and prescient is for the previous UFC champion, O’Malley mentioned (by way of MMA Junkie),
“I feel me vs. Petr (Yan) on the White Home would be the largest combat in bantamweight historical past…I’ve to go on the market and recover from Tune. And if I do not, it would not matter who’s subsequent.”
