UFC 311 was expected to witness Dagestani dominance, and while Islam Makhachev stood up to the expectations, Khabib Nurmagomedov’s cousin, Umar, returned home with a broken arm, an unfinished dream, and a blemish on his MMA record. Merab Dvalishvili proved to be the Georgian mountain too steep to climb for Nurmagomedov, but the latter now needs to map a dominant comeback if he wants to re-enter the title contender discussion.

Who could be the next opponent for ‘Young Eagle’? Well, Sean O’Malley believes there is still a chance of getting back the lost pride, as he dropped a name who could give him a chance for a hyped return. You see, O’Malley and his coach Tim Welch, in a new episode of ‘The TimboSugarShow’ discussed the next potential step for Umar Nurmagomedov.

Appearing on the TimboSugarShow with his coach, Tim Welch, the former champ and UFC 316 title challenger talked about the state of the division and the potential result between Cory Sandhagen and Deiveson Figueiredo. This is when ‘Suga’ said, “Didn’t you message me saying Umar vs. Petr might be in UFC 318? […] It could be a complete cap, but this fight makes a lot of sense. Petr and Umar. Man, that would be a such sick fight. […] Dude 5 rounds! Petr has been looking [amazing], he just beat Figgy. Petr skill for skill in my mind is one of the pound-for-pound, like the top 10 guys in the UFC. […] He’s a bad mot——-r.”

Welch added how Yan was a scary fighter in the division because he tries to ‘hurt’ his opponents and is vicious. Well, his nickname ‘No Mercy’ confirms that.

Interesting Fact: Sean O’Malley and Petr Yan face each other at UFC 280 in 2022. The American fighter won the fight via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29).

Petr Yan, after enduring three consecutive losses (Aljamain Sterling, Sean O’Malley, Merab Dvalishvili), has rebounded with a bang, defeating top contenders like former flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo and Song Yadong back-to-back. ‘No Mercy’ is also ranked number 2 in the rankings and is also really close to fighting for the bantamweight strap. So, #2 Petr Yan vs. #3 Umar Nurmagomedov not only makes absolute sense, but it also becomes a highly anticipated title eliminator bout.

What’s fascinating is that while both are Russians, Nurmagomedov depends on his wrestling and Yan defends on his striking abilities. It will be interesting to see how he performs against the Dagestani, considering he has struggled against wrestlers in the past.

The 135-pound weight class is also in an interesting situation right now with an array of highly competitive challengers for Merab Dvalishvili’s belt. As ‘The Machine’ is looking ever invincible, O’Malley has also mentioned making some necessary changes that he believes are going to be a deciding factor in their title rematch at UFC 316.

Sean O’Malley on making lifestyle changes ahead of UFC 316 headliner!

Sean O’Malley has unfinished business with the current champion Merab Dvalishvili, which started in UFC 306 and is all set to be resolved at UFC 316’s main event. The MMA world is about to find out if the former champion made some adjustments to reclaim the belt. But snatching the gold from a domination machine like Dvalishvili is going to be a tough task, and ‘Suga’ is acutely aware of that.

Although O’Malley didn’t completely reveal what changes he made during his training camp, he opened up about making lifestyle changes ahead of this legacy-defining rematch, scheduled to take place in New Jersey on June 7, 2025. Continuing his conversation with Tim Welch, O’Malley said, “Last time we fought the best bantamweight in the world, are the best bantamweight at the time. You know we got the job done. Very confident in my skills. Last camp, we had some s— going on, I don’t wanna make excuses, we showed up. I was in shape, we did what we could with that.”

He added, “This camp is already a lot different. Feeling good, and super excited to go out there and take care of business. I feel like a lot of things I’ve made life-wise are going to attribute to my performance.” An example he gave? Not being on social media. His accounts are being run by his team members. “It feel like it has changed my life.”

It will be interesting to see if he can get the job done at UFC 316. What do you think?