Sean O’Malley feels better than ever heading into his rematch with Merab Dvalishvili.
“I didn’t do this so I can beat Merab.
I didn’t get off social media and stop doing this, stop doing that, so I can beat Merab.
But getting off social media, not opening up my phone all the time, that pretty much eliminated it.
“I know I can beat Merab,” O’Malley said.
Before his rematch with Merab Dvalishvili, Sean O’Malley feels better than ever.
O’Malley will challenge Dvalishvili for the bantamweight title he lost to “The Machine” at UFC 306 on Saturday. In preparation for his chance at redemption, O’Malley has gone all out, training with fighters like Israel Adesanya and Demetrious Johnson. However, perhaps the most significant change O’Malley made before UFC 316 was purging his life of distractions, specifically marijuana and social media.
After going through a complete social media detox for 2025, O’Malley talked about how much better he feels in an interview with Jim Rome on Wednesday.
O’Malley stated, “There aren’t many things that you can probably say are ‘life-changing,’ but I would say that for me to actually not get on my phone, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, and engage with the virtual reality every single day, hours a day, has completely changed my life in a positive way.” They’re still operating, we’re still creating content, and I still have a team working on that stuff. “I have no intention of getting back on.
“I didn’t do this to defeat Merab. I didn’t quit using social media and quit doing this and that in order to outdo Merab. I did it for my own mental health. I never experienced anxiety. Anxiety is low in everyone. But it was essentially eliminated when I stopped using social media and stopped constantly checking my phone. It seemed like it was well worth the effort. “.”.
However, it goes beyond social media. The pot was also put down this year by O’Malley. That’s a big change for a fighter who gained notoriety for openly supporting marijuana and who even smoked with Snoop Dogg early in his UFC career. O’Malley also says that this detox has been beneficial for him, even though he says he won’t be able to completely stop using social media.
“I doubt I’ve even had a cigarette this year. Perhaps I did,” O’Malley remarked. That was something else. I’m not going to stop smoking marijuana. Although I do enjoy it, it was just giving me anxiety that I didn’t really want. I’m not sure whether smoking and social media combined, but something inside of me said, “Hey, let’s take a [break].”. We’re going to stop using social media, as well as this and that. Let’s take a short vacation from it. Additionally, that feels fantastic. “”.
We’ll have to wait and see if these adjustments will have an impact on a rematch with Dvalishvili. Another factor that might have contributed is the fact that O’Malley had a hip injury that was surgically repaired when he entered their first fight. However, O’Malley is certain that he departs Newark as the bantamweight champion.
“I’m confident I can defeat Merab,” O’Malley declared. He could be knocked out. I have every confidence that I can turn off his lights. In a five-round fight, I’m sure I can defeat him. Although I could undoubtedly turn off his lights, I’m prepared to leave after twenty-five minutes. I’m prepared to delve deeply. “.”.
