It appears the search for Sean O’Malley’s new UFC 264 opponent has ended.
O’Malley was expected to go one-on-one with Louis Smolka on July 10 inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The plan blew up in smoke. That’s because Smolka suffered an undisclosed injury.
There was no shortage of bantamweights willing to step up to the plate. One of those names was Ricky Simon. Out of all the options, Simon was the most appealing to O’Malley.
“Less than two weeks? I accept.”
O’Malley then hopped on Instagram Stories to accept Simon’s challenge. The only problem is, Simon can’t make weight if the “Sugar” show is to be believed.
“Now he can’t make weight.”
During a live Twitch stream, O’Malley revealed that his new opponent will be Kris Moutinho. Moutinho holds a pro MMA record of 9-4. In his last outing, Moutinho submitted Andrew Salas back in May. Moutinho has won his last two fights.
O’Malley is looking to capitalize off his knockout victory over Thomas Almeida back in March. This was a rebound victory for O’Malley as he was coming off the first defeat of his pro MMA career to Marlon Vera.
UFC 264 will be headlined by a trilogy fight between Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor. Also on tap for the main card will be a welterweight battle between Gilbert Burns and Stephen Thompson. Tai Tuivasa vs. Greg Hardy and Irene Aldana vs. Yana Kunitskaya will also be featured on the main card.
Stick with MMA News for the latest info on the UFC 264 card.
