Sean O’Malley To Return Vs. Raulian Paiva At UFC 269

The UFC has added a bantamweight matchup for its final pay-per-view of the year.

Sean O’Malley (14-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) is set to face Raulian Paiva (21-3 MMA, 4-2 UFC) at UFC 269, which is scheduled for December 11 at an undetermined venue, but it’s expected to take place in Las Vegas.

Sean O’Malley (@SugaSeanMMA) vs. Raulian Paiva (@raulianpaivamma) is in the works for UFC 269 on Dec. 11, per sources. Two bantamweight prospects. In their mid-20’s. Paiva coming off an upset win against Kyler Phillips, that surprised some people. Fun. pic.twitter.com/I7vlOi68Nn

— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) September 30, 2021

O’Malley – one of UFC’s most popular bantamweights — had the chance of competing at UFC 268, but he refused the offer.

“I don’t even know if I’m supposed to say this… Sean Shelby was mad at me.” O’Malley shared on The BrO’Malley Show on YouTube. “Dude, I don’t wanna fight in New York. It’s far, the taxes are ridiculous, and Tim (Welch) has no-Gi or no, ADCC trials that weekend.”

In 2021, O’Malley – who fights out of Arizona — already earned two victories in a row.

He defeated Thomas Almeida in the third round via impressive knockout. The last time he fought was at UFC 264 against debutant Kris Moutinho, defeating him in the third round via TKO.

Paiva, a Brazilian fighter, is on a three-fight winning streak in the UFC.

In his debut, he suffered a loss against Kai Kara France via split decision. After that, he suffered another defeat against Rogerio Bontrin. But after he finally earned his first victory, he added another two in a row.

Paiva remains as the No. 15 ranked contender in the bantamweight division.

This will be an opportunity for the Brazilian fighter to become more popular and a chance for O’Malley to enter in the top 15 once again.