Sean O’Malley’s coach is confident of seeing an improved iteration of the former UFC bantamweight champion following a change to his approach in 2025.
Not many fighters have been able to accumulate the kind of social media following and presence that O’Malley has since rising to prominent on mixed martial arts’ biggest stage. From YouTube and X to Instagram and Snapchat, “Suga” has long been active in building his brand online.
But that looks set to change moving forward after O’Malley was thrust off the 135-pound throne by Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306 last September.
That result seems to have brought about a significant adjustment for “Suga” as he gears up for his pursuit of regaining the crown in 2025, with the Montana native revealing plans to take a break from social media.
During a recent appearance on Submission Radio, coach Tim Welch expressed his support for the decision, suggesting that an O’Malley who is focused on nothing but the cage will mark a dangerous proposition for his opponents.
“He’s worked so hard for years on these socials, and you’d be surprised by the amount of money he makes on them, it’s crazy, but it’s like, right now, to win in this top five, you’ve got to be focused on your training,” Welch said. “Being creative on Instagram, being creative on Snapchat, being creative on YouTube, and then worried about all your deliverables (and) when they’ll be posted – your mind’s thinking about all this stuff, and it takes more energy than you think.
“Every single person wants you on their podcast, every single person wants you at their party, celebs (and) athletes, they’re messaging you asking to hang out and you’re just taking all this in,” Welch continued. “So for him to put it all down, to put Snapchat down, to put Instagram down, put the YouTube down; he needs to do that and it’s going to be able to take him to the next level.”
While O’Malley is without a fight date in the calendar after undergoing surgery to repair a torn labrum post-title loss to Dvalishvili, he is expecting to return in competition for the bantamweight gold in quarter two of 2025.
Should that come to fruition, “Suga’s” opponent will be decided next weekend at UFC 311, where “The Machine” is set to defend his gold for the first time against the undefeated Umar Nurmagomedov.
