Former bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley returns to the octagon on Jan. 24 on the UFC 324 main card against No. 5 ranked Song Yadong. “Suga” would have liked to be back in action sooner, but the fight promotion had other plans.
“I’ve been ready to fight, November, December. I’ve been ready to go, so I’ve just been waiting,” O’Malley said on the Ariel Helwani Show. “I think they wanted me on this Paramount card. I’m not main eventing, or co-main eventing, but I bring something to the table I guess. They wanted me on the Paramount card. Open it up, baby. Let’s roll.”
“I do like the Song matchup. He’s explosive, fast, good fight camp, got a lot of experience. He’s young. He’s hungry. It’s going to be a great win. It’s a big fight, so I’m happy with where we’re at,” continued O’Malley.
For O’Malley, the fight with Yadong will be his first three-round bout since 2022. He’s eager to prepare for and compete in a three-round format again.
“It matters. I’m excited. Just more so for the fight camp itself. The five rounds, especial the Merab camps, they were long. They were very long camps. So I’m excited. Fifteen minutes. It’s still going to be high-paced. It’s still going to be hard. Fifteen minutes is still a long time to fight,” O’Malley said.
“I’m taking it as serious as I possibly can and I’ll be ready to go, but definitely, mentally, 15 minutes is a lot more, just a lot freer and less stress to build up for a 15-minute fight.”
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O’Malley has known for about a month that he’d likely be returning in January. He began getting himself in shape and entered training camp.
“When I was asking for fights and they’re like no to December. They kind of told me about a month ago it’s looking more like January,” O’Malley revealed. “So, I’ve been pre-camp, getting the body ready to go. We’re in fight camp right now, Yeah, we’re in camp. Hit a little mountain run this morning. Felt great and excited.”
