Ex-champ forced into major lifestyle change and ditches smoking cannabis to win title back at UFC 316
SEAN O’MALLEY has gone to extreme lengths to try to reclaim the UFC men’s bantamweight title, including ditching two of his favourite pleasures.
The fan favourite’s reign as king of the 135-pounders came to a gruelling and energy-sapping end at the hands of Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306 last September.
The 30-year-old was forced to take stock of his training and daily habits in the aftermath of the dominant defeat.
And he’s since decided to forgo two of his favourite pleasures – MARIJUANA and SELF-LOVE.
He said on his TimboSuga podcast with head coach Sean Welch: “I haven’t j’d the peen (self-loved) once this year – not once in 2025.
“Haven’t j’d the peen, haven’t been on social. I haven’t gamed, either. I quit gaming.
“I did a lot of gaming, two or three hours a day, and I need to fill it with something.
“We’ve been playing a lot of Texas Hold ‘Em poker with the fellas.
“It’s been too fun. It’s like gaming.
“You say, ‘One more hand.’ I quit smoking weed, too. I just stopped randomly.
“I just didn’t like the way it made me feel. I’m not overeating. My sleep’s better.”
Despite feeling the benefits of a marijuana-free life, O’Malley admits he’ll eventually start smoking the Mary Jane again.
He continued: “I’m not done smoking forever, but just right now I don’t feel the need to.
“And I just don’t have any desire to. I feel like it’s been good.”
O’Malley will look to exact his revenge on Dvalishvili in the main event of UFC 316 in Newark a week on Sunday morning.
And he believes his wholesale lifestyle changes will bear fruit in the cage.
He said: “I feel like a lot of things that have changed in my life are going to attribute to my performance.
“I haven’t J’d the peen once this year – not once in 2025.”
Sean O'Malley, former UFC men's bantamweight champion
“For example, not being on social media. I decided in 2025 [that] I’m done with social media.
“I don’t get on social media, and I feel like that’s changed my life.
“It’s only been three months, but I literally feel like it’s changed my life, and I feel like that’s going to play a role in my performance.
“All those little things –making decisions like that, sacrifices.
“I don’t believe [social media] is a sacrifice, but giving up something, I feel like that is going to help me perform in the future.”