Following two back-to-back losses, rumors were circling that Sean O’ Malley is nearing his final fight. With UFC 324 just around the corner, ‘Suga’ has taken a firm stance on his retirement plans.

Well, the conversation has spilled over to the extent of labelling UFC 324 against Song Yadong as his last career fight. The bantamweight has cleared up those online rumors, appearing on the Death Row MMA podcast.

Sean O’Malley addresses recent retirement rumors

“I’m trying to just, you know, do it as long as I can until the wheels fall off or until I’m just f***king over it,” a decisive O’Malley told Jorge Masvidal, who was equally dumbfounded at the rumors. “Those are just rumors. I forget. I saw Chael made a video about me. What did I… My guy’s right here… What did I say about retiring? Why is that getting going everywhere? I said something, right? Like in a pod.”

The rumors first came to light after ‘Suga’ made a casual commentary in his podcast about never fighting again after two heartbreaking fights against Merab Dvalishvili, where he lost both his bouts to UD and submission. A remark he didn’t give much thought to at the time sparked retirement rumors, which faded away with the news of his UFC 324 bout.

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However, in another recent episode of his podcast, O’Malley clearly showed signs of exhaustion from his repetitive losses, reiterating similar concerns of hanging up his gloves. Even Chael Sonnen jumped on the bandwagon as he covered the issue on his podcast. But it’s important to take his words with a grain of salt, as O’Malley himself clarified.

“There’s no plan. It was just kind of, I feel like I’ll know when it’s time, it’s time. I’m good. Yeah, we’ll see. I’m literally going to take it one fight at a time. One fight at a time,” O’Malley revealed his UFC plans, a sentiment similar to Justin Gaethje, who is on the verge of his retirement.

In fact, echoing previous claims on his UFC career, Sean O’Malley treats every fight with gravity, moving on to the next thing only once one bout is done and dusted. O’Malley doesn’t have an elaborate 3-5 fight contract in sight, with a good outcome motivating him to push forward, while a bad outcome can equally convince him to step back.

With that in mind, O’Malley has redirected his focus to the Yadong bout, which he knows won’t be an easy one. “I’m not looking past Song. I understand how dangerous Song is. He’s very good. He’s explosive, and this is not an easy fight by any means,” he added.

However, he feels like fighting Petr Yan and the UFC White House event is very much in the cards, even though he finds himself less deserving of the title shot. “If you’re going off what makes the absolute most sense. Which isn’t always what the UFC goes off of. I think Merab deserves a title shot,” he told Masvidal.

While his retirement hangs in the balance, O’Malley seems more than eager to expand his horizons to other disciplines, quite the opposite of the stifling retirement talks.

Sean O’Malley lifts the veil on dream side-quests

When Masvidal steered the conversation to whether Sean O’Malley would like to compete in pro boxing, the bantamweight enthusiastically added, “I’ve always pictured myself getting a big boxing fight.” While O’Malley is focused on his UFC career at the moment, it doesn’t diminish the chances of a future bout.

Speaking up on his dream matchup, O’Malley told Masvidal, “I would say, in a perfect world, I’d be able to go out there and fight some young… Some 1-0, maybe 3-0, 5-0 pros, build my way up. But if I’m just thinking like me versus a big fight, I think me versus Gervonta Davis is one of the bigger fights that would be a big deal. That’s one fight that I think would be huge.”

At 31, every step needs to be intentional, but ‘Suga’ isn’t one to back down from a challenge, sharing how staying in shape could push his retirement years farther back. For now, Sean O’Malley isn’t closing any doors. Whether it’s chasing legacy-defining matchups or testing himself in entirely new arenas. Would you like to see ‘Suga’ inside the ring?