{"id":58195,"date":"2025-05-28T15:34:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-28T14:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/?p=58195"},"modified":"2025-05-28T15:34:06","modified_gmt":"2025-05-28T14:34:06","slug":"ufc-veteran-suggests-sean-omalley-may-have-to-rethink-his-future-if-things-go-south-at-ufc-316","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/ufc-veteran-suggests-sean-omalley-may-have-to-rethink-his-future-if-things-go-south-at-ufc-316\/","title":{"rendered":"UFC Veteran Suggests Sean O\u2019Malley May Have To Rethink His Future If Things Go South At UFC 316"},"content":{"rendered":"

It doesn’t matter how good a fighter is or how many other people he can beat. There’s always that one fighter who seems to have figured out the perfect puzzle to solve him. This happens more often than fans realize, and it’s created some awkward situations for elite fighters throughout UFC history. Sean O’Malley finds himself in exactly this spot right now. <\/p>

The colorful bantamweight star lost his title to Merab Dvalishvili back in September at UFC<\/a> 306. Now he is getting another shot at ‘The Machine’ at UFC 316 in Newark, New Jersey on June 7th. While most former champions would be thrilled about an immediate rematch, this situation carries much higher stakes than usual. According to UFC veteran and analyst Chael Sonnen, O’Malley’s entire future at bantamweight might depend on this one fight.<\/p>

A Loss To Merab Dvalishvili May Spark The End Of Sean O’Malley’s Bantamweight Career <\/h2>

Sonnen recently dropped some harsh reality on O’Malley’s situation during an interview with The Schmo<\/strong>. The former middleweight contender believes this rematch represents O’Malley’s last real chance to prove he can beat Dvalishvili. If ‘Suga’ loses again, he could find himself completely frozen out of the title picture for as long as Merab holds the belt. <\/p>

“Sean O’Malley wins this fight or quite possibly never fights at 135 again. The only path forward for Sean O’Malley, just so he doesn’t get in that terrible spot, I’ll use Rich Franklin. I say it as respectful, Rich was so good, but he had an Anderson [Silva] problem. Rich could beat everybody up badly except Anderson.”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

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❗️Chael Sonnen thinks Sean O’Malley will move up to FW if he loses to Merab

\"Sean O’Malley wins this fight or quite possibly never fights again at 135. This will be Sean’s last shot at Merab, They’re not gonna do a part 3”

via @TheSchmo312<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/MwB8LQq8Vf<\/a><\/p>— Dovy🔌 (@DovySimuMMA) May 28, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote>