Las Vegas — Sean O’Malley turned a few heads ahead of UFC 324, suggesting that 2026 could be his final year of fighting.
During Wednesday’s UFC 324 media day, O’Malley (18-3, 1NC), now 31, addressed those comments while speaking with Cageside Press.
The “Suga Show” had originally suggested that wins over Song Yadong, who he fights on Saturday, and current champ Petr Yan could lead to him hanging up the gloves.
“I mean, I’m just going with the flow. There’s not a date, there’s not an amount of fights. It’s a feeling. Once I’m done, I’m done,” O’Malley explained, reacting to the storm his words had kicked up. As to what he’d do after fighting, “Business. Doing Well. I want to make Doing Well massive.”
Doing Well is a new sports drink line O’Malley is in the process of launching. That said, “I don’t see myself being done fighting at the end of this year,” he added. “As long as I’m healthy, as long as my body can fight, I’m going to fight.”
Any talk of his star power waning, meanwhile, seems to be contradicted by the UFC holding him back to fight as part of their debut on Paramount+. The promotion launches a new broadcast deal with the streaming service this weekend.
“I was trying to fight earlier in the year, but I think UFC wanted me on the Paramount card for a reason. That tells me everything I need to know. I’m in a good spot.”
O’Malley also addressed wearing a face mask while meeting opponent Song Yadong, who is Chinese, for an initial face-off. Eyebrows were raised given the origin of COVID-19 being in China. “My intentions were never harmful. It was supposed to be a silly little joke,” stated O’Malley. “It was that, and it got taken out of… I apologize if I offended anybody.”
With a win over Song Yadong, meanwhile, Sean O’Malley believes a fight with champ Yan should be in the offing. “It’s got to be me versus Petr next, if I go out there and take care of business. If not- I don’t know. I just feel I’m kind of trying to manifest that. If I think if I go out and put on a beautiful performance, me versus Petr at the White House is huge.”
He’s not looking past his current opponent, however. “I gotta go take care of Song. I don’t want to talk like Song’s nothing. Song’s a very difficult challenge.” That said, five rounds with Petr Yan “makes it interesting,” O’Malley added.
Watch the full UFC 324 media day appearance by Sean O’Malley above.
