Products You May Like
One of the UFC’s most popular up-and-coming fighters needs a new opponent.
Sean O’Malley was scheduled to fight Louis Smolka at UFC 264 on July 10 in Las Vegas, but Smolka had to withdraw Monday due to a bout with a staph infection, Smolka’s manager Jason House of Iridium Sports told ESPN.
The UFC is currently looking for a replacement to fight O’Malley, sources said.
O’Malley vs. Smolka was planned to kick off the UFC 264 main card. The pay-per-view event will be headlined by the trilogy fight between former two-division champion Conor McGregor and top lightweight Dustin Poirier.
O’Malley (13-1) is coming off a vicious, third-round knockout of Thomas Almeida at UFC 260 in March. The Arizona resident is 5-1 in the UFC. O’Malley, 26, has finished his last three wins via KO/TKO.
Smolka (17-7), a 29-year-old Hawaii native, has won three of five during his second stint in the UFC, which began in 2018.