Former UFC Bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley is preparing to undergo hip surgery following his loss to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306.
According to reports, O’Malley suffered a torn labrum in his hip roughly 10 weeks ago, but was hoping to manage the pain to avoid rescheduling his bout at UFC Noche at The Sphere in Las Vegas. While there’s no definitive timetable for his return, many expect an extended layoff for the former 135lb king.
“I have surgery on Oct. 3,” O’Malley told Adin Ross. “I tore my left labrum in my hip. That’s the only reason I’m going to be out for so long. This surgery should only take two months to come back from, then a couple months recovery. A year is a long time, could be six to eight months. You never know.”
The 29 year old suffered a rather lopsided unanimous decision defeat to Dvalishvili on the weekend, ending his 6 fight unbeaten streak. The challenger wound up out-striking O’Malley 214-49, and dominating the contest on the mat with a relentless take down game.
“Best weight cut, felt good, no excuses,” O’Malley said. “My mom, she’s like, ‘You just weren’t the same, what was wrong?’ Nothing. I just got beat. Everyone keeps asking me, ‘Something seemed off.’ No excuses.”
Considering the surgery itself, subsequent recovery, and the need to put in a full fight camp, it’s not out of the realm of possibilities that O’Malley could be sidelined for close to a year. Nevertheless, Cory Sandhagen and Henry Cejudo wasted little time in calling out the former champion in the wake of his defeat Saturday, though it would appear as though both will have to exhibit patience if their wish is to be granted by UFC boss Dana White.
Photo: Ron Hall. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.