2 days Ago By Curtis Calhoun, Bloody Elbow
Former UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley is going the extra mile to prepare for the UFC 316 main event. Sean O’Malley will look for revenge as he prepares to rematch Merab Dvalishvili in the UFC 316 main event on June 7th in Newark. O’Malley returns to the Octagon after losing to Dvalishvili at UFC 306 last September at the Sphere, bringing his bantamweight title reign to an abrupt end.
Almost immediately after UFC 306, O’Malley called for a rematch and claimed he was robbed on the judges’ scorecards after losing by unanimous decision. He’s since taken a long absence from competition to recover from a recent hip injury and make numerous changes to his lifestyle ahead of his UFC 316 fighting return. But some of the changes O’Malley has made since the first fight with Dvalishvili go beyond the ins and outs of mixed martial arts.
Sean O’Malley is giving up marijuana, masturbation, and gaming ahead of UFC 316 title fight During a recent episode of the TimboSugarShow , O’Malley explained going MIA after the loss to Dvalishvili. “I feel like a lot of things that have changed in my life are going to contribute to my performance,” O’Malley said. “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.” ( h/t MMA Junkie ) O’Malley then expanded on the sacrifices he’s making ahead of the Dvalishvili rematch.
“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 overeating. 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.” Before the loss to Dvalishvili, O’Malley went nearly unbeaten in his UFC tenure, with recent wins over Aljamain Sterling and Marlon Vera . O’Malley remains one of the top pay-per-view stars in the UFC, but faces an uphill climb in his rematch against Dvalishvili.
Sean O’Malley reacts to criticism of UFC 316 title shot after lopsided defeat in last fight After Dvalishvili vs. O’Malley 2 was announced for the UFC 316 headliner, fans had mixed reactions to the rematch booking. Some vocal fans believe O’Malley doesn’t deserve an immediate rematch after defending the belt one time during his title reign, an accolade Dvalishvili matched by defeating Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311.
Sterling wasn’t granted an immediate rematch after a knockout defeat to O’Malley at UFC 292. After the title defeat, Sterling made the full-time move to featherweight, earning a win over Calvin Kattar and falling to Movsar Evloev at UFC 310. O’Malley has the chance to not only right the wrongs of his first clash with Dvalishvili, but to showcase the improvements he’s made during his long hiatus.
Time will tell if O’Malley’s insistence on immediately running it back with Dvalishvili will blossom into positive results or prove to be a massive mistake. This article first appeared on Bloody Elbow and was syndicated with permission..
