Sean O’Malley reveals major life update that is ‘occupying quite a bit of head space’ ahead of Merab Dvalishvili rematch

To prepare for his upcoming rematch, Sean O’Malley has been making some big changes in his life.

O’Malley has named several factors that impacted his performance at UFC 306 but having not fought since September, he’s had time to re-evaluate.

There are big stakes for the former champion heading into UFC 316, with Chael Sonnen stating that a second loss to Merab Dvalishvili could end O’Malley’s time as a bantamweight.

‘Suga’ has taken steps to improve his preparations although Henry Cejudo did question O’Malley’s training camp based on what he had heard.

Away from the time that he has spent in the gym, there was another big adjustment that recently happened in the 30-year-old’s life which he revealed ahead of fight night.

Sean O’Malley announces that his son was born less than two weeks out from UFC 316

During a final episode of the ‘TIMBOSUGARSHOW’ before UFC 316, Sean O’Malley revealed that his second child was born less than two weeks out from his rematch with Merab Dvalishvili.

He and his wife, Danya O’Malley, welcomed their first son with ‘Suga’ stating that this has only had a positive impact on the final stages of his preparations.

“It’s nice because Danny is such a beast. I’ve been sleeping upstairs just because the baby wakes up. The baby only wakes up like every three hours to feed… but yeah, I’ve been sleeping upstairs so I haven’t had to deal with that yet but it’s been good, it’s been really good.

“It’s so peaceful just like every time I’m here and I go home, I get so excited on that drive home that I get to go hold him. He just sleeps all day so I get home, he’s pretty much sleeping… it’s just the most peaceful thing ever.”

O’Malley also spoke about this major change in his life in a recent interview with Sports Illustrated which took place before he made the news public.

The former bantamweight champion gave the following response when he was asked where his head is at with June 7 quickly approaching.

“I have a five-day-old, so, you know, changing diapers, so that occupies quite a bit of the head space right now.

“The work [for the fight] is pretty much done so. Just kind of getting by these next few days. This is where you start really, you know, cutting the calories and start really getting the weight down. So just being a dad hanging out still, you know, still training twice a day. But these days are good, good, good times.”

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Conor McGregor compared Sean O’Malley’s preparations to his training camp for iconic rematch

While he didn’t know about it until it happened, it appears that Sean O’Malley has rekindled his relationship with Conor McGregor.

‘The Notorious’ posted several positive messages about the main event of UFC 316 and the former champion’s preparations on X, having been critical of ‘Suga’ in the past.

After training camp footage showed O’Malley looking to create a real fight atmosphere in the gym by replicating the process of fight night, McGregor weighed in with his thoughts.

‘The Notorious’ drew parallels to his own preparations for his rematch with Nate Diaz where he implemented a similar approach.

McGregor would go on to avenge his submission loss to Diaz at UFC 202, beating him via majority decision in an instantly iconic clash.