Sean O’Malley out four-months with scheduled hip surgery on Thursday

We won’t be seeing the “Sugar” show back in the octagon anytime soon. UFC bantamweight Sean O’Malley announced on Twitter that he’ll be out of action for at least four months due to hip surgery which is scheduled for Thursday.

Surgery on Thursday on my right hip. This will put me off the Mats for about 4 months. Still waiting on the USADA situation to get sorted out . This year has been the best year,and toughest year of my life .Fuckin love you guys tho ❤️I’ll be streaming A LOT

— Sean O'Malley (@SugaSeanMMA) October 22, 2018

This injury represents another setback in what’s been been a rough second half of 2018 for The MMA Lab product. O’Malley (10-0) also underwent surgery earlier this year due to a broken foot following his win over Andre Soukhamthath at UFC 222.

Sean O’Malley was slated to face Jose Quinonez at UFC 229 earlier this month before a potential USADA violation pulled him from the card. The 24-year-old maintains his innocence in the matter and will have to see how the situation plays out.

“I’ve been working with Jeff Novitzky at UFC and I believe that we have already identified a dietary supplement that would have caused this,” O’Malley said on Instagram shortly after his withdrawal from UFC 229. “We’ve sent remaining samples from the bottle I took to the USADA lab and as well as a full sealed bottle. I’m told the testing of these supplements can take as long as 30 days. I will continue to update you all the findings, but I fully expect the results what I already know. That I did nothing on purpose.”

The undefeated bantamweight was riding high at the end of 2017, going a perfect 4-0. He’s best known for his highlight reel win on Dana White’s Contender Series which earned him a UFC contract.

He followed that up with a unanimous decision victory over Terrion Ware in his UFC debut last December. With this upcoming surgery and the length USADA generally takes with their investigations, it’s likely O’Malley will be sitting for a full year since his last fight.

Who would you like to see Sean O’Malley face when he’s ready to return to the Octagon? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 10/24/2018.