Sean O’Malley didn’t plan on being the headline reaction when bad news hit UFC 324. But that’s the thing about timing in this sport, someone’s setback almost always becomes someone else’s spotlight. And when Kayla Harrison’s highly anticipated co-main event with Amanda Nunes collapsed due to injury, the ripple effect landed squarely at O’Malley’s feet.
In a clip shared by Championship Rounds on X, O’Malley is seen working the heavy bag in his gym when someone off-camera drops the news. “You see the news? Kayla Harrison’s out.” O’Malley pauses. “No.”
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“Co-main!” The former champion blinks. “Me?” “You!” What followed was pure impulse. “Seriously? I’m the co-main. UFC 324! I’M THE CO-MAIN!” O’Malley yells, breaking into laughter and celebration.
The clip then cuts to an older video for contrast, O’Malley, deadpan and self-aware, saying, “Kayla Harrison versus Amanda Nunes. I’m not even the co-main, dude. I am falling off hard.”
That edit is doing a lot of work. It captures the whiplash of MMA relevance in real time. One week, you’re joking about slipping down the card. Next, you’re suddenly elevated because the entire structure above you collapses.
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However, the injury itself is no small footnote. As per reports, Kayla Harrison was forced out of UFC 324 after doctors determined she needed surgery to repair herniated discs in her neck, a decision made after she flew to New York seeking treatment. The setback shelved what UFC CEO Dana White had been calling the “greatest women’s fight of all time” and left the promotion scrambling to reshuffle the top of the card just days before the January 24 event in Las Vegas.
And for Sean O’Malley, this timing carries extra weight because this will be the first fight his daughter attends in person. Speaking on his YouTube channel earlier, ‘Suga’ admitted that detail has changed how he feels walking into fight week, “She’s come to a lot of the fight weeks, and she just goes to the press conferences and the weigh-in,s and she thought that was the fight… I’m like, that makes me feel different. A little bit different.”
Meanwhile, Harrison and Nunes will have to wait. The UFC is expected to rebook the fight once Harrison recovers, but there’s no timetable yet. But now with his eye on the co-main spot, Sean O’Malley is ready to build momentum as he’s also looking for another massive clash after UFC 324!
Sean O’Malley aims his crosshairs at a rematch against Petr Yan at the White House
With a showdown against Song Yadong looming, O’Malley has started talking less about rebuilding and more about scale. What’s the biggest fight available if he wins? In his mind, the answer isn’t complicated. It’s Petr Yan and not just anywhere.
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Speaking on theDeath Row MMA podcast, O’Malley laid it out in blunt terms. “I think I go out there and beat Song,” he said. “Me vs. Petr at the White House just makes sense.”
Then he drew a clear line between merit and magnitude, “I don’t know what else is a bigger fight than that if we’re just going off pure big fights. If we’re going off what makes the absolute most sense, which is not always what the UFC goes off of, I think Merab deserves the title shot. But if we’re going off, what the f—is the biggest fight? Me vs. Petr rematch at the White House seems like the biggest fight… I feel like I need to go out there and represent for the country.”
The idea of USA vs. Russia on the White House lawn carries a narrative punch the UFC rarely ignores. After all, the history is already there. Sean O’Malley earned a split-decision win over Yan at UFC 280 in 2022, a result that divided fans and launched his first title run. He went on to dethrone Aljamain Sterling, defended once, then lost the belt to Merab Dvalishvili. Yan, meanwhile, just reclaimed relevance by upsetting Dvalishvili. The timing isn’t accidental.
Now, the noise stops being playful and starts being consequential. UFC 324 isn’t just a co-main event bump. It’s a test. And for Sean O’Malley, standing on a bigger stage with his daughter watching, the next step isn’t about celebrating placement anymore. It’s about proving he still belongs at the very top when the lights are brightest.
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