Sean O’Malley claims to be a new man with a clearer mind and enhanced focus going into his UFC 316 rematch with Merab Dvalishvili.
O’Malley (18-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) has kept a relatively low profile since losing the bantamweight title to Dvalishvili (19-4 MMA, 12-2 UFC) by unanimous decision last September. He underwent hip surgery in the aftermath of his defeat, with expectations he would get an opportunity to recapture gold in his return.
Now that chance is set for the headliner of the June 7 card at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+), and although it’s only been seven months since the initial encounter, O’Malley says he will enter the octagon as a different person not only because of his physical health, but his mental health after shedding multiple vices, starting with social media.
“I feel like a lot of things that have changed in my life are going to attribute to my performance,” O’Malley said on his “TimboSugarShow” podcast. “For example, not being on social media. I decided in 2025 I’m done with social media. … I don’t get on social media, and I feel like that’s changed my life. It’s only been three months, but I literally feel like it’s changed my life, and I feel like that’s going to play a role in my performance. All those little things –making decisions like that, sacrifices. I don’t believe (social media) is a sacrifice, but giving up something, I feel like that is going to help me perform in the future.”
Self-gratification out the window
O’Malley, 30, said his limitations also spilt into self-gratification and cutting out hobbies he previously enjoyed such as video games and recreational marijuana use.
“I haven’t j’d the peen (masturbated) once this year – not once in 2025,” O”Malley said. “Haven’t j’d the peen, haven’t been on social. … I haven’t gamed, either. I quit gaming. I did a lot of gaming, two or three hours a day, and I need to fill it with something. We’ve been playing a lot of Texas Hold ‘Em poker with the fellas. It’s been too fun. It’s like gaming. You say, ‘One more hand.’
“I quit smoking weed, too. I just stopped randomly. I just didn’t like the way it made me feel. I’m not over eating. My sleep’s better. … I’m not done smoking forever, but just right now I don’t feel the need to, and I just don’t have any desire to. I feel like it’s been good.”
‘Literally just self-belief’ matters
Merab Dvalishvili of Georgia fights Sean O’Malley of the United States for the bantamweight title during UFC 306: Riyadh Season Noche at Sphere on September 14, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
O’Malley said he knows there’s a section of the MMA fanbase who won’t approve of him getting an immediate rematch with Dvalishvili. He arguably got shortcuts to his first title shot against Aljamain Sterling, then only successfully defended once against Marlon Vera.
O’Malley is relishing all the doubts placed upon him, though, and said his inner confidence is going to be a huge factor in how the sequel plays out.
“Literally just self-belief,” O’Malley said. “That’s what got me to where I’m at right now. That’s what’s going to get me to win that next fight is self-belief, because I know I’m going to be a huge underdog. Everyone is going to count me out, just like the Aljo fight. One of my favorite moments is when Dana after the fight asked all the media, there was 30 or 40 people, ‘Who in here thought Sean was going to win the fight?’ One person (from my hometown) in Montana raised their hand. This is going to be the same thing. No one is going to expect me to go out there and do what I’m capable of doing.
“Last time I fought the best bantamweight at the time, we got the job done (against Aljamain Sterling). I’m very confident in my skills. Last camp we had some sh*t going on. I don’t want to sit here and make excuses. We had a great camp, we showed up, I was in shape, we did what we could with what we were able to do. This camp has already been a lot different, and I’m feeling good. Super excited to be able to go out there and take care of business. ”
O’Malley vs. Dvalishvili: Then vs. now
O’Malley said his body hasn’t felt in such strong condition since his controversial win over Petr Yan in October 2022. He admitted it was around this exact time for the last fight with Dvalishvili that he injured his groin and hip and had his entire remaining camp derailed, but he thinks the foundation to avoid a similar situation this time is far stronger.
Now having tapped into his “higher self” over the “ego side” of his mindset, O’Malley is leaving no stone unturned going into UFC 316. If he keeps that discipline through fight night, he likes his chances of becoming a two-time UFC champ.
“If I can just keep this pace up of how we’ve been able to train these last few weeks all the way up until the fight, I’m going to be 70 percent better than I was in that first fight,” O’Malley said. “I’m going to be significantly more mobile, agile, better shape. I’m going to fight at my full potential. With that last fight, I was very happy with how I was able to perform considering how I felt. It wasn’t ideal, the outcome. I didn’t win, but I also think I wasn’t supposed to win. This rematch was supposed to happen.
“It’s going to make this win that much more crazy. If I had beat Merab the first time, he was still considered a stud. But then he beat me, and he beat Umar (Nurmagomedov). … I’ll forever be grateful for Merab in that sense that he beat me, he made me a better not just fighter, a better person, a better human. Losing is a weird thing. Where there’s struggle, there’s opportunity for growth.”
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