One of Sean O’Malley’s recent rivals downplayed the lifestyle changes he’s made ahead of UFC 316.
Sean O’Malley is out for revenge against UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili as the two sides prepare for their rematch at UFC 316. 10 months after their first fight at UFC 306 at the Sphere, O’Malley will look to reclaim the bantamweight title and stop Dvalishvili’s lengthy win streak.
In the immediate aftermath of UFC 306, O’Malley questioned the judges’ scorecards and believed he deserved to retain the belt. But after relative social media silence, and undergoing hip surgery shortly after the fight, O’Malley is making some big changes ahead of the Dvalishvili rematch.
O’Malley is giving up Marijuana use, masturbation, video games, and more vices ahead of UFC 316. It’s a surprising turn for O’Malley after displaying a boisterous lifestyle throughout his UFC career.
Aljamain Sterling thinks Sean O’Malley lost his ‘Suga’ persona with lifestyle changes
O’Malley believes he’ll be ’70 percent better’ in the Dvalishvili rematch than their first clash at UFC 306. It’s a lofty prediction to live up to, but O’Malley is supremely confident he’ll deliver on fight night.
While fight fans are intrigued about O’Malley’s rebirth, one of his former rivals believes he might be sacrificing too much to his detriment.
During a recent upload to his YouTube channel, former UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling downplayed O’Malley’s new lifestyle and mindset.
“So which part did it say, ‘Yeah, and I added in wrestling training sessions,’” Sterling said of O’Malley. “I mean of course, maybe he is. It’s just funny that everyone made such a big thing, ‘Oh he’s changing his life, he’s giving up the Mary Jane.’
“I’m like, those are the things that technically made you who you are and a champion. So, for someone to tell me to go cold turkey, no more drinking, no edibles, nothing, I’m going to look at them like, ‘This is what got me here, why would I stop?’” (h/t BJPenn)
O’Malley knocked out Sterling at UFC 292 for the bantamweight title, bringing an abrupt end to Sterling’s title reign. Sterling then moved up to featherweight to make way for his superstar teammate, Dvalishvili, to challenge for the belt.
Aljamain Sterling gave a surprise take on Sean O’Malley’s immediate title rematch
Despite their past animosity, Sterling supported O’Malley getting an immediate rematch against Dvalishvili, despite the unanimity of the judges’ scorecards. O’Malley was briefly linked to potential matchups with Jose Aldo and Umar Nurmagomedov before the Dvalishvili rematch was offered.
Amidst O’Malley’s lifestyle changes, Dvalishvili encouraged O’Malley to revert to his old ways ahead of UFC 316 to add fodder to the pre-fight buildup. O’Malley has been unusually complimentary of Dvalishvili since their first clash.
In either case, O’Malley is laser-focused on potentially regaining the belt at UFC 316. But for Sterling and Co., O’Malley’s slew of lifestyle changes might be a negative instead of a positive.