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Sean O'Malley is reportedly set to make his return to the octagon at UFC 264. A fight between the up-and-coming bantamweight fighter and Louis Smolka is seemingly in the works for July 10th.
Although a contract has yet to be officially signed for the fight, both fighters have verbally agreed to meet at UFC 264. Journalist Ryan Frederick took to Twitter to report on the talks about the fight.
At the UFC 260 pay-per-view, Sean O'Malley made his return to the octagon on the back of his first-ever MMA loss. Upon his comeback, Sugar Sean added yet another highlight-reel knockout to his resume by brutally finishing Thomas Almeida.
The win at UFC 260 saw Sean O'Malley return to winning ways after he lost to Marlon Vera in the co-main event of UFC 252. An ankle injury contributed to O'Malley's loss against Vera, but the rising bantamweight prospect made a lot of noise upon his return.
His reported opponent for UFC 264, Louis Smolka, is also on the back of a TKO victory over Jose Alberto Quinonez from UFC Vegas 16. The victory marked Smolka's return to winning ways after a loss to Casey Kenney last May.
Sean O'Malley will be looking for another big win at UFC 264
Following his latest win at UFC 260, there was talk of a potential fight between Sean O'Malley and former UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz. However, it looks like O'Malley will be fighting someone else and will have to wait a while before getting his hands on a former champion.
Cruz wasn't the only fighter linked with a clash against O'Malley, as Sugar also called out Petr Yan.
Not only will UFC 264 mark Sean O'Malley's return to the octagon, but it will also feature the returns of Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier. The former lightweight titleholders will square off in a trilogy fight in the main event on July 10th.
The co-main event on the card is a welterweight showdown between Gilbert Burns and Stephen Thompson. UFC 264 will be the first show to mark the return of live audiences in Las Vegas since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out.
