Sean O’Malley slated to return at UFC 269 against Raulian Paiva

Sean O’Malley will return to the Octagon at UFC 269 for a bantamweight bout with fellow prospect Raulian Paiva.

The news was first reported by ESPN’s Brett Okamoto who shared the following information on Twitter.

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

”Sean O’Malley vs. Raulian Paiva 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.”

O’Malley (14-1 MMA) had previously revealed that he was offered the chance to compete at UFC 268 in November by matchmaker Sean Shelby, but he ultimately turned down the offer due to the following reasons.

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 (via Sports Keeda). “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.”

Sean O’Malley last competed at July’s UFC 264 event where he scored a third round TKO victory over Kris Moutinho. Prior to that, ‘Suga’ was coming off a knockout win over Thomas Almeida at UFC 260.

As for Raulian Paiva (21-3 MMA), the Brazilian will enter UFC 269 sporting a three-fight winning streak, his latest being a unanimous decision victory over Kyler Phillips back in July.

Who do you think will emerge victorious when Sean O’Malley and Kyler Phillips collide on December 11? Share your predictions in the comment section Penn Nation!