Sean O’Malley reveals true reason he made lifestyle changes ahead of UFC 316

Sean O’Malley has explained why he truly decided to quit some of his hobbies, and it isn’t because of Merab Dvalishvili.

O’Malley will collide with “The Machine” a second time for the UFC Bantamweight Championship. “Suga” lost the gold to Dvalishvili back in Sept. 2024. The two will share the Octagon again in the main event of UFC 316 in Newark on June 7.

O’Malley recently cut down on his social media activity and has even refrained from using marijuana ahead of his next fight. While many assumed the lifestyle changes were made solely in an effort to dethrone “The Machine,” that actually isn’t the case.

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Sean O’Malley Wanted ‘Peace of Mind’

During an appearance on “The Jim Rome Show,” Sean O’Malley revealed that his decision to drop social media and THC was done in an effort to combat his anxiety (h/t MMAFighting).

“There are not a whole lot of things you can probably say are ‘life-changing’ but I would say me getting off of my social media—they’re still running, we’re still making content, I still have a team doing that stuff—but for me to actually not get on my phone, get on Instagram, get on Snapchat, get on Twitter, engage with the virtual reality every single day, hours a day, has completely changed my life in a positive way,” O’Malley said. “I don’t have any desire to get back on.

“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. I did for my own peace of mind. I never really had anxiety. Everyone has a low level of anxiety. But getting off social media, not opening up my phone all the time, that pretty much eliminated it. I feel like it was definitely worth doing.”

O’Malley admits that he enjoys marijuana use and isn’t ruling out smoking again down the line. For now, he’s content with the changes he’s made. Time will tell if that will assist him well on his road back to UFC gold.

BJPenn.com will be providing live coverage of UFC 316. Be sure to peep the homepage on June 7 for live results and video highlights.