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Former UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley announced that he will have hip surgery next month.

The 29-year-old sustained a torn labrum 10 weeks ago but battled through it, only to lose his 135-pound title to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306 last Saturday in Las Vegas.

O’Malley’s return to the Octagon could take anywhere from six months to a 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.”

O’Malley (18-2) was out-struck 214 to 49 in the unanimous decision loss to Dvalishvili (18-4) but he insisted the hip injury was not to blame.

“Best weight cut, felt good, no excuses,” O’Malley said on his podcast. “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.”

It was the first loss for O’Malley since UFC 252, a TKO defeat to Marlon Vera on Aug. 15, 2020.

–Field Level Media