Sean O’Malley Eyes Redemption at UFC 324
Posted on: January 23, 2026, 04:31h.
Last updated on: January 23, 2026, 04:32h.
- Paddy Pimblett betting favourite for tomorrow night’s lightweight interim title bout at UFC 324
- Sean O’Malley looking for a road back to a title shot, needs to beat Song Yadong first
- O’Malley betting favourite at BetMGM
The UFC gets out of the gate for 2026 with a bang tomorrow night, with UFC 324 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, headlined by a lightweight interim title bout between No. 4 Justin Gaethje versus No. 5 Paddy “The Baddy” Pimblett.
The winner of this one, said UFC CEO and President Dana White, will likely square off with lightweight title holder Ilia Topuria, who has stepped away from UFC to deal with a family matter. There’s no point in getting into the specifics of that, with plenty of rumours flying around social media. There’s been no indication that Topuria is done with MMA. He just needs to clear up this personal issue.
Pimblett Betting Favourite
A Topuria comeback versus Pimblett would line up as one of the biggest fights in UFC history. Topuria issued a statement recently that he intends to defend his title in the next six months, against either Pimblett or Gaethje, he said.
White was thrown a curveball a week back when Kayla Harrison, the women’s bantamweight champion, had to pull out of her scheduled fight with Amanda Nunes due to neck surgery. White said yesterday as soon as she is well that fight will be rescheduled.
For tomorrow night, White moved up No. 3 Sean O’Malley versus No. 5 Song Yadong in a men’s bantamweight bout. O’Malley was a UFC superstar in the making, with highlight reel knockouts, but went off the radar after losing two fights in a row, both to Merab Dvalishvili – by submission at UFC 316 last June and by unanimous decision at UFC 306 in September 2024.
O’Malley used to headline pay-per-view fights. Then he got moved down to undercard.
O’Malley Looks to Make a Statement
“I’m not even the co-main, dude. I am falling off hard,” said O’Malley back in December when the UFC 324 card was announced.
“What’s next? Prelims? F—, early prelims? God dammit, it’s not going good for the Suga show. The stock of the Suga show is down bad right now, it’s not good, it’s not looking good,”
Now he’s on a co-main fight card for tomorrow night’s card. A grand opportunity for him to make a statement against Yadong, known for a crisp boxing-heavy, explosive style.
UFC is kicking off its new $7.7 billion broadcasting partnership with Paramount+, so having a brand like O’Malley, who’s an American to boot, fighting in one of UFC’s meccas, Las Vegas, is a pretty good consolation prize after Harrison’s injury.
Yadong’s Crisp Boxing Style
“Song’s hungry, experienced, explosive,” O’Malley said at the pre-fight news conference. “He hits hard. He’s dangerous … one of the best strikers I fought.”
O’Malley later told Sportsnet the three rounds for tomorrow’s fight gives him an advantage. O’Malley hasn’t fought a three-round fight since 2022. “I have been enjoying the three-round training camp. Still putting in the work, training camp’s are never easy, or fun. It’s a good push, but three rounds sounds nice. It will change the pace, three rounds to five rounds.”
At BetMGM today, Pimblett is the betting favourite, at -235, with Gaethje +190. Pimblett has been getting 35% of bets, 49% of handle. Like White has said, oddsmakers have been too quick to dismiss Gaethje. DraftKings has it Pimblett -230, Gaethje +190.
O’Malley is the clear betting favourite in his fight, at -210 (Yadong is +170). Yadong has seen 54% of bets, 52% of handle at BetMGM. At DraftKings O’Malley is -205, Yadong +170.
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