Bound by time limits, most professional bouts end with a bell. No such restraints exist for the ones that occur outside the cage. Still, even those feuds come to an end. Sean O’Malley’s recent comments, where he spoke about his infamous exchange with Sean Strickland, suggest as much.

In a conversation on the “One Night with Steiny” podcast, when content creator Aaron Steinberg pressed him on his run-in with Strickland during the December 2023 UFC press conference for the 2024 season, O’Malley admitted that he regrets the personal insults he aimed at the UFC middleweight champion that prompted Strickland to confront him backstage in an interaction that almost turned violent.

“Well, Strickland was coming at me, bro,” he said. “What am I going to f–king not defend myself? I was like, Strickland’s probably going to come at me cuz he f–king hit. Dude, he came at me one time in the back locker room or in the back cuz we were fighting on the same card and my 69 tattoo, and he’s pressing me like in my face talking about it.

“I was like, ‘God damn it. Strickland would f–k me up.’ Yeah. So I’m like, ‘What am I going to talk sh*t to…?” Like I won’t.”

To understand why Sean O’Malley‘s remarks stood out, it’s worth revisiting the feud that sparked them.

The confrontation stemmed from the UFC’s seasonal press conference. Ahead of the championship bout between Leon Edwards and Colby Covington, which headlined the UFC 296 on December 16, 2023, Sean O’Malley and Sean Strickland exploded into a high-octane expletive-laden exchange that even dragged family members into it.

With Dana White presiding over the press conference, Strickland set his sights on O’Malley, who was sitting in the same row, next to Alexander Volkanovski. Taking potshots at O’Malley’s personal life, Strickland, who was coming off a win over Israel Adesanya for the middleweight championship, said, “This motherf-r (O’Malley) with a status trying to douche-f–k his wife.”

Unfazed, O’Malley, who had defeated Aljamain Sterling for the bantamweight title, retorted, saying, “At least my dad didn’t f–k me.”

While the Montana native may have blurted it out in the heat of the moment, the remark carried added weight given Strickland’s troubled childhood involving his father.

The middleweight champion, however, barely looked affected by the jab and continued his tirade against O’Malley until Dana White intervened and ended the exchange.

A few weeks after the drama unfolded, Strickland stepped in for his first title defense against Dricus Du Plessis. At the UFC 297 press conference, he addressed the altercation with O’Malley in his trademark style.

“Here’s the thing, it was never f–king personal,” Strickland admitted. “You had the c-ck Sean O’Malley say some stupid sh-t he knows nothing about. I go hard on everybody. You don’t think I deserve some sh-t? I go hard on all you motherf-kers. I’m proud of the motherf-ker . You don’t see me lose character often; this motherf-ker got me there.”

Much has changed since that infamous verbal duel. O’Malley lost his title, while Strickland has regained championship status.

Reflecting on that meet-up with Steinberg, O’Malley, however, offered a surprising take.

“We’re fine,” he said. “I shouldn’t have said what I said. It is what it is. It’s different.”

While his comments could be construed as a genuine admission of mistakes, what O’Malley added may leave some skeptical about the depth of that regret.

Why Sean O’Malley finally changed his tone

“The thing is, like, I shouldn’t… Strickland would f–k me up, right? So, it’s hard,” O’Malley said. “For the most part, I’m like, Don’t talk sh-t to people who can f-k you up. So, I went against what I say. Like I was talking sh-t, but he, you know, came at me, and I came at him. It is what it is.”

The rivalry appears unlikely to extend beyond verbal exchange. O’Malley has spent his UFC career at bantamweight, while Strickland has never competed below welterweight, making a fight between them highly improbably.

That said, it’s also likely O’Malley must have realized that a beef that erupted spontaneously three years ago is now largely irrelevant and serves little purpose if kept alive.

Notably, O’Malley admitting he was wrong in a feud is not an unprecedented case in the UFC.

A similar example is that of Michael Bisping and Jorge Rivera, where, after bitter differences, one of the central figures apologized and eventually buried the feud.

Fifteen years ago, the lead-up to UFC 127 saw backlash erupt when Rivera reportedly released video parodies targeting Bisping’s personal life. Taking strong exception, Bisping, who eventually won the bout in Sydney, Australia, allegedly spat toward the American fighter’s corner. Years later, however, Bisping expressed regret over his conduct, which Rivera later accepted.

In that context, many fans are bound to view O’Malley’s move as a welcome step.