Sean O’Malley is a new man.
After surrendering his bantamweight title to Merab Dvalishvili in September, ‘Sugar’ is back and ready to reclaim his crown. As announced by Dana White earlier this week, Dvalishvili and O’Malley will run it back on June 7 when the promotion heads to Newark, New Jersey for UFC 316.
The last time around, ‘The Machine’ dominated O’Malley for five full rounds, just as many suspected he would. With O’Malley not having fought anyone since the loss, many were unenthused by the announcement of a rematch, believing that the second verse will be the same as the first.
However, that may not be the case. During a recent episode of his TimboSugarShow podcast with coach Tim Welch, O’Malley revealed that he has taken several measures since the new year to help cleanse his life of distractions, allowing him to focus on being the best mixed martial artist possible.
“I feel like a lot of things that have changed in my life are going to contribute to my performance,” O’Malley said. “For example, not being on social media. I decided in 2025 I’m done with social media. … I don’t get on social media, and I feel like that’s changed my life. It’s only been three months, but I literally feel like it’s changed my life, and I feel like that’s going to play a role in my performance.
“All those little things –making decisions like that, sacrifices. I don’t believe (social media) is a sacrifice, but giving up something, I feel like that is going to help me perform in the future” (h/t Bloody Elbow).
Social Media isn’t the only vice sean o’Malley has abstained from in 2025
Social media isn’t the only vice O’Malley has given up since the new year. He’s also taken a step back from smoking marijuana and even discontinued self-gratification. Or as ‘Sugar’ puts it, he hasn’t “j’d the peen.”
“I haven’t j’d the peen (masturbated) once this year – not once in 2025,” O’Malley said. “Haven’t j’d the peen, haven’t been on social. … I haven’t gamed, either. I quit gaming. I did a lot of gaming, two or three hours a day, and I need to fill it with something. We’ve been playing a lot of Texas Hold ‘Em poker with the fellas. It’s been too fun. It’s like gaming. You say, ‘One more hand.’
“I quit smoking weed, too. I just stopped randomly. I just didn’t like the way it made me feel. I’m not overeating. My sleep’s better. … I’m not done smoking forever, but just right now I don’t feel the need to, and I just don’t have any desire to. I feel like it’s been good.”
Whether or not any of these changes improve his performance inside the Octagon, it’s nice to see that O’Malley is taking the fight game seriously once again.
