Sean O'Malley is looking at an extended layoff from competition, as the former champ is scheduled to undergo hip surgery early next month.
The 29-year-old suffered a torn labrum in his hip 10 weeks ago but managed the injury through a fight camp to take on Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306 on Saturday in Las Vegas. O'Malley (18-2) lost his 135-pound title to Dvalishvili via unanimous decision. He will undergo surgery during the first week of October and said his Octagon return could be delayed to anywhere from six months to one year.
"I have surgery on Oct. 3," O'Malley told online streamer Adin Ross. "I tore my left labrum in my hip. That's the only reason I'm going to be out for so long. This surgery should only take two months to come back from, then a couple months recovery. A year is a long time, could be six to eight months. You never know."
In his own podcast with head coach Tim Welsh, O'Malley admitted it could be up to a year before he actually fights again, considering surgery, recovery and then a full fight camp. He made it a point to say the injury had nothing to do with his loss to Dvalishvili, in which he was out-struck 214 to 49 and struggled to defend Dvalishvili's notoriously smothering ground game.
"Best weight cut, felt good, no excuses," O'Malley said. "My mom, she's like, 'You just weren't the same, what was wrong?' Nothing. I just got beat. Everyone keeps asking me, 'Something seemed off.' No excuses."
In the immediate aftermath of his loss, O'Malley has already been called out by the likes of bantamweight contenders Cory Sandhagen and Henry Cejudo. Dvalishvili, meanwhile, will likely face undefeated challenger Umar Nurmagomedov in his first title defense, although the UFC has not announced that and Dvalishvili said he would prefer a fight against former flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo.