3 potential replacement opponents for Sean O'Malley at UFC 264
Sean O'Malley is one of the UFC's brightest prospects. The bantamweight standout was scheduled to face off against UFC veteran Louis Smolka at the upcoming UFC 264. However, Smolka has been forced to drop out of the fight after developing a staph infection.
O'Malley vs. Smolka was initially intended to be the opening fight on the pay-per-view's main card, which has a headlining bout between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier. Due to McGregor and O'Malley's name value, there have already been a number of fighters who have put their names forward to fight 'Suga' Sean.
3 potential replacement opponents for Sean O'Malley at UFC 264
In the following list we detail three potential opponents for O'Malley to face at UFC 264. An honorable mention goes to Tim Elliot, who has offered to move up to bantamweight to face Sean O'Malley should the need arise.
#3 Ricky Simon
Coming in at third is Ricky Simon, an elite 135lber who has thrown his name into the hat. Simon is a top unranked prospect who began making his way into the top 15 before running into Urijah Faber and Rob Font.
Those losses dropped Simon out of the bantamweight rankings. However, since then he has bounced back with three straight wins. Simon is a top wrestler and would likely be able to give O'Malley considerable trouble should the fight hit the mat.
The only reason Simon is not higher on the list is due to the fact that Simon's style is so different to Smolka's, which may imply that O'Malley would be less inclined to accept the fight.
#2 Brian Kelleher
Brian Kelleher is an experienced UFC bantamweight having been competing in the UFC since 2017. He has fought some extremely tough opponents such as Cody Stamann, Renan Barao and John Lineker.
Kelleher immediately put himself forward as soon as the news dropped about Smolka's withdrawal. He and Sean O'Malley have had several less than pleasant interactions in the past, some of which can be seen below.
A fight between Kelleher and O'Malley would be incredibly fan friendly, with both men preferring to ply their trade on the feet. Kelleher also has legitimate KO power, as shown by the Hunter Azure fight. However, Sean O'Malley is an incredibly tricky striker who could cause 'Boom' serious problems.
#1 Merab Dvalishvili
Merab Dvalishvili is currently the only ranked fighter who has stated his willingness to face Sean O'Malley. This is especially admirable in Dvalishvili's case considering that he already has a fight against the sixth-ranked bantamweight Marlon Moraes.
A win for Dvalishvili over O'Malley would do little to progress his career whilst a loss could do considerable damage to his ranking. Despite this, it's a fight that the Georgian is more than willing to take. Whether Sean O'Malley accepts remains to be seen.