MISSOULA — It could be a long time before Sean O'Malley re-enters the Octagon and fights again.
According to an initial report from ESPN, O'Malley, 29, tore his left labrum at the start of his fight camp in preparation for his second UFC bantamweight title defense at UFC 306 at the Sphere in Las Vegas, Nevada. O'Malley will need hip surgery.
PHOTOS: SEAN O'MALLEY FIGHTS MERAB DVALISHVILI AT UFC 306
O'Malley still battled through the injury in fight camp and went on to headline the Sphere, where he lost to Merab Dvalishvili by unanimous decision, surrendering his championship belt in the process.
"I have surgery on Oct. 3," O'Malley recently told 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."
O'Malley struggled with Dvalishvili's relentless pace and takedown attempts in Saturday's fight. Dvalishvili easily won rounds one, two and four with round three a more competitive back-and-forth between the two.
O'Malley rallied in the fifth round to find some offense, but by then it was too late as Dvalishvili made it to the end of the fight to secure his 11th win in a row and the UFC title. Dvalishvili out-struck O'Malley 214 to 49 and secured six takedowns in the fight.
In his own podcast with his head coach, Tim Welch, O'Malley didn't use the injury as an excuse in the loss, but said it could be up to a year before he fights again.
"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."
With the loss, O'Malley dropped to 18-2 with one no contest as a professional mixed martial artist.
