Sean O’Malley’s next fight is reportedly set.
As per ESPN reporter Brett Okamoto, the UFC is finalizing a bantamweight encounter between O’Malley and Raulian Paiva for the UFC 269 pay-per-view on December 11.
The event is expected to take place in Las Vegas.
“UFC is finalizing a bantamweight bout between Raulian Paiva and Sean O’Malley for UFC 269 on Dec. 11, multiple sources told @bokamotoESPN.”
UFC is finalizing a bantamweight bout between Raulian Paiva and Sean O'Malley for UFC 269 on Dec. 11, multiple sources told @bokamotoESPN. pic.twitter.com/HDx5MX3ZBR
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) September 30, 2021
O’Malley Unaware Of Paiva Fight
While the MMA world quickly went buzzing following the news, it turned out to be just that for O’Malley — news. Speaking on his Twitch channel, “Suga” revealed he had no idea what everyone was talking about.
“I’m just seeing this right now. I have no idea what anyone is talking about.”
Sean O’Malley is live on Twitch right now and denying that he is fighting Raulian Paiva.
“I’m just seeing this right now. I have no idea what anyone is talking about.”
— Alex Behunin (@AlexBehunin) September 30, 2021
There are two possibilities. Either O’Malley is trolling, or he genuinely has no idea about the fight.
If it’s the case of the latter, it’s probably likely that Paiva signed his part of the deal and the UFC is now strong-arming O’Malley into signing it by leaking the information out.
Regardless of what the case is, it’s still an intriguing fight and a big step for O’Malley.
Paiva is #15 in the bantamweight rankings and is currently on a three-fight winning streak following wins over Mark De La Rosa, Zhaigas Zhumagulov and Kyler Phillips.
O’Malley, meanwhile, remains unranked, but is looking to make it three wins in a row with a victory against Paiva. O’Malley bounced back from his first career loss to Marlon Vera last year with two impressive victories over Thomas Almeida and Kris Moutinho.