Sean O’Malley denies claim that he cherry picks fights: “UFC does what UFC does and there’s a reason they’re the UFC”

Sean O’Malley is laughing off the idea that he has the option to cherry-pick his UFC fights.

O’Malley is scheduled to be back in action on Sunday. He is set to meet Aiemann Zahabi on the UFC Freedom 250 card. It’s a fight that most fans weren’t anticipating for the “Suga” show, but it’s what the UFC brass wanted. That’s why O’Malley finds it humorous when fans think he gets to choose his opposition.

During an interview with MMAFighting.com, O’Malley revealed that he actually wanted to face Zahabi sooner.

“At first, I asked for Petr [Yan],” O’Malley said. “They said no. They didn’t say any reason, they didn’t say anything. They just said he’s not available. Then they offered me Aiemann and I said yeah. To be honest, I was trying to fight Aiemann my last fight and they said no. They gave me Song [Yadong].

“It’s kind of funny, people are acting like it’s my decision. I wanted to fight Aiemann last time and they said no, they gave me Song. I wanted to fight Petr, they said no. They gave me Aiemann. UFC does what UFC does and there’s a reason they’re the UFC. So here we are. I’m excited about the matchup.”

O’Malley is hoping to earn his way back into UFC bantamweight title contention. The former 135-pound champion has suffered two losses to Merab Dvalishvili, who dropped the bantamweight gold to Petr Yan in late 2025. O’Malley has a win over Yan,  so his best bet for a title shot would be if “No Mercy” holds onto his championship.

Can Sean O’Malley make a strong case for another UFC bantamweight title fight depending on his performance against Aiemann Zahabi, or is the trilogy between Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili the direction to go in? Drop a comment below.