Sean O’Malley announces return against Jose Alberto Quinonez

Undefeated UFC bantamweight prospect Sean O’Malley has announced that he’ll be taking on Jose Alberto Quinones at UFC 247 on February 8 in Houston, Texas. O’Malley made this exciting announcement in a Tuesday afternoon Instagram post.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B6dd6MDB6As/

“MERRY CHRISTMAS MOTHA FUCKAS. I promise 2020 is my year. I’m coming back and taking over. I can’t wait for you guys to feel the energy I’m bringing into the Octagon Feb 8th in Texas.” – Sean O’Malley on Instagram.

This UFC 247 fight, which has not yet been announced by the promotion, will mark the first time O’Malley has set foot in the Octagon in almost two years. His last fight occurred all the way back in March of 2018, when he weathered a leg injury to defeat Andre Soukhamthath by unanimous decision.

O’Malley’s lengthy absence can attributed to a complicated drug testing ordeal.

He originally tested positive for trace amounts of ostarine in October 2018, which forced him out of a UFC 229 fight with Quinonez. He was handed a six-month suspension for this failed test, which was ultimately attributed to a contaminated supplement. Unfortunately, that’s not where the trouble ended for O’Malley.

In May of this year, he tested positive for ostarine once again, which forced him out of a scheduled UFC 239 fight with Marlon “Chito” Vera. The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), the UFC’s anti-doping partner, ruled that this drug test was the result of O’Malley’s previous, unintentional ingestion of ostarine, and elected not to suspend him again as a result. The Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC), however, did issue a temporary suspension.

In the midst of all this drama, O’Malley also underwent hip surgery, which further delayed his return.

Luckily, O’Malley is now free to compete, and healthy enough to do so—as evidenced by his participation in the recent Quintet Ultra grappling event—hence his fight with Quinonez, originally scheduled for UFC 229, being rebooked.

UFC 247 will be headlined by a light heavyweight title fight between champion Jon Jones and challenger Dominick Reyes.

How do you think Sean O’Malley will look when he returns on the card?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 12/24/2019.