Sean O’Malley was watching the UFC Vancouver broadcast when he received an unexpected callout.
UFC Vancouver took place this past Saturday, and the event featured a bantamweight clash between Aiemann Zahabi and Marlon “Chito” Vera. It was a highly competitive fight and ultimately, Zahabi earned a split decision victory. After the fight, Zahabi called for a matchup with the “Suga” show.
O’Malley posted a humorous video response to the challenge laid out by Zahabi on X.
Reaction to Aiemann Zahabi calling me out pic.twitter.com/EMvWM3Rcvq
— Sean O’Malley (@SugaSeanMMA) October 19, 2025
Zahabi reacted to the clip during the UFC Vancouver post-fight press conference. He believes that O’Malley’s response works in his favor.
“I mean, that’s good,” Zahabi said. “It seems like we’re setting it up, boys. If he didn’t want it, he wouldn’t have made a video.”
Reporter Mike Bohn asked Zahabi what makes him confident in taking a bout with the former UFC Bantamweight Champion now.
“I’m confident in any matchup,” Zahabi said. “Obviously, I’m in the top 10 now. If I’m not willing to fight anybody in the top 10, what am I doing here? So, I want to fight them all. He’s No. 1. I feel like the way things are going with Merab [Dvalishvili], he’s clearing out the division, and not to sound negative, Sean O’Malley’s a great fighter and all that, but he fought Merab twice.
“I don’t think he’s up next for the belt. I feel like it’s going to be Umar [Nurmagomedov], [Mario] Bautista, [Petr] Yan. There’s some guys who are going to get the title fight before maybe Sean O’Malley because he lost to Merab two times, and I don’t mean that in a disrespectful way.”
O’Malley hasn’t fought since being submitted by Dvalishvili in their rematch back in June. Rumors have surfaced of a showdown between O’Malley and Song Yadong in December, but the “Suga” show recently denied discussing his next opponent with the UFC brass.