Sean O'Malley is desperate to get back into UFC title contention and in the hope of recapturing bantamweight gold in 2025, 'Suga' has been making some major alterations to his lavish lifestyle.
The former 135lb champion was once the king of MMA social media but no more; Sean O'Malley has announced that he's quitting the socials scene - his head coach, Tim Welch, explains the benefits that'll provide in 2025.
In mid-December, Sean O'Malley revealed that he'll be taking a backstep from his countless social media channels, including a 5M+ Instagram page, and won't return until after his next fight.
Speaking to Submission Radio, coach Tim Welch explained that whilst his social media presence has been incredibly lucrative, the time and energy needed to sustain the conveyor-belt of content is simply too much.
"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 5, you've got to be focused on your training.
"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."
O'Malley dropped his bantamweight title to Georgian wrestler Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306 last December; a loss that Welch says "needed to happen" otherwise there'd be no room for such drastic lifestyle changes.
"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.
"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."
O'Malley spent his New Year's attending the insane RIZIN 49: Decade event in Japan, and speaking to media after the event, teased that he's hoping to return to the octagon in mid-2025.
"Ideally Merab beats Umar and I get the rematch, but if it has to be Umar, that's what I want next is a title fight, hopefully mid-next year, so the winner of that one is coming up very, very soon."
Coach Welch agrees that the only meaningful next opponent for O'Malley, who was recently revealed to be the fourth best-seller of UFC merchandise in 2024, is the winner of Merab Dvalishvili vs Umar Nurmagomedov.
"It would be the winner of Umar and Merab, for sure. It's like Merab, the scariest thing about him is that you're going to get a little bit tired, he's going to knee your thigh, but you've got to be tactical.
"Umar, he can either grapple you, pound your head off on top of you, he's got a submission threat and he's really sharp - fast with the kicks, stands both Southpaw and Orthodox, he's very confident on his feet."
That bantamweight title fight is scheduled for the co-main event of UFC 311, which is scheduled for Saturday, January 28 in Los Angeles - whoever wins that bout, 'Suga' will be ready.
"Both guys pose big problems but Sean's the type of athlete that can step up, under the [bright] lights and take these guys out when he's on, so either of those guys for sure."