Sean O’Malley’s coach open to future move to featherweight: “Could hang with a lot of the 145ers”

Sean O’Malley could soon go to featherweight, according to his coach, Tim Welch.

O’Malley is set to rematch Merab Dvalishvili for the bantamweight title on June 7 at UFC 316. It’s an intriguing matchup as O’Malley looks to reclaim the bantamweight title he lost to Dvalishvili back in September.

Since the loss, Sean O’Malley has been in training camp and focusing on Merab Dvalishvili. Although the focus is on Dvalishvili, Welch says a move to featherweight is possible in the future, but won’t happen anytime soon.

“It’s definitely possible. There’s still really big fights at bantamweight,” Welch said to Ariel Helwani. “Sean’s 5’11. He walks around at around 160 pounds. If we took 6-7 months to put 3, 4, 5 pounds of muscle on him, he definitely could hang with a lot of the 145ers… Down the line, I think there are a bunch of really big fights for him at 145 and these weight cuts really are brutal.”

Tim Welch says every weight cut is tough, which could entice Sean O’Malley could be a featherweight in the future. But the focus is on Merab Dvalishvili and then getting other big fights at bantamweight.

Coach: Sean O’Malley feels pressure ahead of UFC 316 fight

Before any talk of what’s next for Sean O’Malley, he must first face Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 316 in Newark, New Jersey.

Given it’s an immediate rematch for O’Malley, if he loses, it will take a long time for ‘Suga’ to get another crack at Dvalishvili. However, the focus isn’t on that as it’s on doing what he does best to get him in the best spot to win.

“It does have a pressure attached to it. Sean feels the pressure. Thinking about that, thinking about what if I lose, thinking about what if I win is pointless. Focus on what I can control… We are focusing on what we can control, and there are ways we can lose this fight and ways we can win this fight,” Welch said.

Sean O’Malley is 18-2 and one NC and coming off the loss to Dvalishvili. Before that, he beat Marlon Vera by decision to defend his belt for the only time.