After an initial report indicated that Sean O’ Malley would make his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) return against Alejandro Perez at UFC 229, “Suga” revealed that won’t be the case.
Instead, the surging Bantamweight will face Jose Quinonez at the pay-per-view (PPV) event on Oct. 6 from inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. According to O’Malley’s conversation on The Ariel Helwani MMA Show, Perez wasn’t able to get medically cleared to compete.
No fret, as Quinonez has agreed to the fight, which will open up the main card according to Sean. Jose has won four in a row inside the Octagon after losing to the aforementioned Alejandro Perez in the finals of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) at UFC 180.
As for Sean, the undefeated banger (10-0, 2-0 UFC) has made quite a name for himself since earning his shot via Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series thanks to his boisterous personality. But, he’s been walking the walk, as well, taking out Terrior Ware and Andre Soukhamthath in ihs first two UFC bouts.
According to Sean, he also inked a new four-fight deal with the promotion after he felt it was time to restructure his deal. And while he wasn’t completely happy with his pay bump, he says he is coming along nicely in his efforts to reach his financial and championship goals.
UFC 229 is slated to feature a Lightweight title fight between current champion Khabib Nurmagomedov as he defends the belt against former champion Conor McGregor in one of the most-highly-anticipated fights in the history of the promotion.
More on that here.
The pay-per-view (PPV) event will also feature a women’s strawweight showdown between Michelle Waterson and Felice Herrig. To see who else is competing at UFC 229: “Khabib vs McGregor” event, click here.