The lights of The Sphere in Las Vegas had barely dimmed before questions started swirling after UFC 306. Was something off with Sean O’Malley? The footwork wasn’t there. The pop in his punches? Missing. And while Merab Dvalishvili dominated the bout like a man possessed, fans couldn’t help but wonder, was ‘The Suga Show’ really at 100%?

Turns out, he wasn’t. In fact, he’d been hiding a secret for weeks. Now, as the pair are set to throw down again at UFC 316, with the belt being around the Georgian’s waist this time around, let’s take a look at the reason behind O’Malley’s seemingly lackluster performance and its aftermath!

All about Sean O’Malley’s hip injury before UFC 306

Ten weeks before UFC 306, Sean O’Malley had reportedly suffered a torn labrum in his left hip. But instead of pulling out, he pushed forward. It was later revealed by his coach, Tim Welch, that the 30-year-old trained through the pain, iced the injury, masked it with cortisone shots, and made the walk to the Octagon anyway. Against the relentless force that is Merab Dvalishvili, it wasn’t enough.

The result? A unanimous decision loss with the scorecards reading 49-46, 48-47, 48-47, and his first true domination loss in the Octagon. After the fight, UFC boss Dana White had confessed, “If these guys come in and they have something that we don’t know, I mean, how would the doctors check for a torn labrum? You know what I mean? You can’t.”

White also echoed the sentiments of the MMA sphere as he claimed that he got a lot of messages and calls from people who saw a version of O’Malley they hadn’t seen before—deflated. As such, White further shared, “Not to take anything from Merab, but I mean everybody felt that way.”

Later, during an episode of the TimboSugarShow Sean O’Malley confessed, “Best weight cut, felt good, no excuses, my mom, she’s like, ‘You just weren’t the same, what was wrong?’ Nothing. I just got beat. Everyone keeps asking me, ‘Something seemed off.’ No excuses.”

But while he didn’t use the injury as an excuse, he did tell streamer Adin Ross that the surgery was scheduled for October and the recovery timeline? Anywhere from six months to one year.

O’Malley’s hip surgery and recovery

By the time he went under the knife, the damage was clear. But what came next surprised even Sean O’Malley. Just two days post-op, he sounded fired up and full of optimism. Speaking on his YouTube channel, the former bantamweight king shared, “(I) got surgery Thursday, today is Saturday, it’s been f— two days. I feel f— great. I’m going to come back better than ever. I’ll be back next week to sparring.”

Although he did indicate that people around him warned him not to push for a return too soon, he claimed he wanted to be back “ASAP”.  And that’s what he did as he signed up for a rematch against Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 316 in June.

The excitement to return? Possibly, because ‘Suga’ could finally train without hindrance. His long-time coach and friend, Tim Welch, had revealed after UFC 306, “The past year, we’ve [only] been able to do little bits. Probably 10 second goes, 15 second goes from the ground. That’s all really his hip and his back could handle. So, getting that fixed and getting back to real grappling practices. Real jiu-jitsu, real wrestling practices, I’m excited for that.”

In hindsight, it’s remarkable that Sean O’Malley made it through the UFC 306 camp at all, let alone going 5 rounds against Dvalishvili’s relentless pressure. Now, a healthy and completely recovered ‘ Suga’ is officially set to step back into the cage at the Prudential Centre in Newark, New Jersey. Will a healthy camp and renewed confidence be enough to reclaim the bantamweight throne? Or will ‘The Machine’ once again grind his way to victory? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!