O'Malley's Possible Fights At Featherweight

Sean O’Malley could move up to featherweight as we look at his next possible opponents. 

O’Malley is the former UFC Bantamweight Champion, who lost his belt to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306. He rematched Merab immediately following his hip surgery to avenge that loss. However, things did not get any better as Merab submitted him in the third round at UFC 316. That was O’Malley’s second UFC loss, leaving him with questions over his future. Sean’s coach, Tim Welch, has previously said O’Malley could go to featherweight. However, that was contingent on him finishing his goals at bantamweight. And given that he has already won the title, now may be the time to move up. 

"It’s definitely possible. There’s still really big fights at bantamweight. Sean’s 5’11. He walks around at around 160 pounds. If we took 6-7 months to put 3, 4, 5 pounds of muscle on him, he definitely could hang with a lot of the 145ers… Down the line, I think there are a bunch of really big fights for him at 145 and these weight cuts really are brutal," Welch said 

Options

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O’Malley could take on Aljamain Sterling. The latter is open to a rematch after Sean stopped him at UFC 292 to win the bantamweight belt. After the loss, Sterling moved up to featherweight. He has had a mixed time at the weight class, winning one and losing the other bout. His last fight was a loss against Movsar Evloev at UFC 310. Sterling has said he wants to run things back. 

"I think Sean would do really well at 145, and I’m not saying that because I would love to run it back, because that’s obvious. But I think his speed, his length would translate really well. He will be able to actually lift a little bit more to get stronger. The only thing is there are some dogs at 145 that if they grab a hold of him, they already know how to grapple," Sterling said 

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Another option is to target a leading contender at featherweight. Diego Lopes is coming off a loss to Alexander Volkanovski as the latter reclaimed his featherweight title. Lopez is ranked number two in the rankings, as he suffered his first loss in five fights against Volk. Lopes has two losses in his UFC career, like O’Malley, making it an even match-up. 

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There is also the possibility to target the winner of Max Holloway vs. Dustin Poirier. They face off at UFC 318 for their trilogy. Max puts his BMF belt on the line, while Poirier is expected to retire after this fight. O’Malley could face Holloway if he comes out victorious, getting a huge name on his resume. Holloway also suffered his first stoppage loss against Topuria, showing he can be stopped. And given O’Malley is a KO artist, that could be an appealing fight, leaving Sean with plenty to consider. 

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