Sean O’Malley has confirmed that he wants to fight Jose Aldo.

O’Malley is the former UFC Bantamweight Champion who lost against Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306 in a one-sided unanimous decision. That was the second defeat of O’Malley’s UFC career after losing to Marlon Vera. While he avenged the Vera loss at UFC 299, O’Malley underwent surgery, meaning that any rematch against Merab will have to wait. He is on course to make a return by April, provided his rehabilitation goes well. Dvalishvili is also likely to face Umar Nurmagomedov next year.

Aldo could be a possible opponent for Suga. He has only fought twice since losing to Mehrab in 2022. He recently made his comeback at UFC 301, beating Jonathan Martinez via a unanimous decision. However, Aldo is coming off a controversial defeat against Mario Bautista at UFC 307. A large part of his return was based on his desire to secure a title shot. Facing O’Malley will take him closer to that, as Suga was keen on the fight.

Sean O’Malley is asked his thoughts on a potential fight with Jose Aldo.#HelwaniShow pic.twitter.com/cSgSIidNBf

— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) October 14, 2024

“100%, that would be f**king crazy. Jose Aldo is a legend. Yeah, that’s definitely a possibility. I like having options, I don’t know if the Merab fight is going to happen. But I’m pushing for it, just putting that out in the universe, hoping that happens. But, you know, I’m here for big fights and I want people to be entertained. I want people to have that feeling of a big fight around the corner… That’s the type of fights I want to put on and give to the people. So yeah, that’s a possibility,” O’Malley said 

Reaction

Run it

— 🍺🦌🇺🇸🏆💍 (@MKEONLY) October 14, 2024

I think Jose would murder Sean. Anybody disagree?

— Dwight Mccreary (@MccrearyDwight) October 14, 2024

That fight would be fire 🔥

— Francisco Krauss 🇧🇷 (@KikoKrauss) October 14, 2024