UFC 250: Sean O’Malley turned two-year layoff into a positive
How UFC 250’s Sean O’Malley turned injury, suspensions into positive.
After returning from a forced two-year layoff this past March, Sean O’Malley, one of the UFC‘s most highly-touted prospects, now gets the chance to continue his path towards rising up the bantamweight ranks when he faces his most experienced challenge yet in Eddie Wineland at UFC 250.
O’Malley was most recently in action at UFC 248, where he scored a first-round finish of Jose Alberto Quinonez. It was his first fight since UFC 222, almost exactly two years earlier. It was there when O’Malley was injured fighting Andre Soukhamthath.
And just when he was able to get back, O’Malley then ran into a long-lasting issue with USADA, as scheduled bouts for him at UFC 229 and UFC 239 were scrapped after he tested positive for Ostarine.
UFC 250’s Sean O’Malley used two-year layoff to his advantage
While such a long layoff would be irritating to a fighter, O’Malley, in an exclusive interview with FanSided MMA, said he was able to make use of the time away from the Octagon to better his health and skills.
“At the time, it was super frustrating,” O’Malley told FanSided MMA. “You know, I dealt with a lot of different emotions that came up, and I just didn’t understand why it was happening, but I was able to kind of switch that mindset and look at it as a positive. I had my foot surgery, I had torn labrum into my hip, had hip surgery, was able to, you know, completely heal all the little injuries that I was fighting with.
“And now, I have no injuries. I’m healthy, I got a strict strength and conditioning program. I really upped the time I was doing my jiu-jitsu and grappling, and it really was a blessing in disguise. I don’t even look at the whole situation is negative anymore. It was actually extremely positive looking back on it.”
O’Malley added that the fight against Quinonez, which marked O’Malley’s first finish in the UFC since joining after earning a contract through Dana White’s Contender Series in 2017, couldn’t have played out any better than he could have imagined.
“I never doubted myself I was always confident and that I would return, and that I would return in a big way,” he said. “And it just played out pretty much perfect; you couldn’t write it any more perfect. The big return, I get to finish that I knew I would get. I don’t think I finished those first few UFC fights. I wasn’t healthy; I had injuries and I just wasn’t where I needed to be as an athlete. And I think I showed up pretty much 100 percent in that fight and that’s what I’m capable of doing.”
Now, O’Malley’s attention turns to a fight with Wineland, a former WEC champion and former interim UFC title challenger. It’s O’Malley’s opportunity to break further into a crazy and talented bantamweight scene that’s moving forward after Henry Cejudo announced his retirement and surrender of the championship.
“I was definitely not expecting [Cejudo’s retirement],” O’Malley said. “I don’t think he’ll be able to stay retired. He’s in his prime. I just feel like, I don’t know, everyone’s different, but if I’m in my time and I’m the champ, I got to defend that belt. But maybe, you know, there’s a bunch of killers in the division coming after him. Maybe he’s like ‘I don’t want that.’ So he might be smarter, he might be scared, I don’t know, but I think he’ll be back. I think he’d get that edge, and maybe come back and fight.”
As for the task in front of them, O’Malley says his training and mindset hasn’t changed even in the current circumstances of the world. Whether Wineland stands and trades or takes the fight to the ground, O’Malley says he has another finish waiting in store.
He adds to not be surprised if he does a quick turnaround, too.
“I think it’s going to play out in my last fight played out,” he said. “I’m gonna get the job done early on. Hopefully, get in, get out, no injuries and be able to fight again in a couple of months.”
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