Sean O’Malley needs new opponent after Louis Smolka withdraws from UFC 264

UFC bantamweight star Sean O’Malley is in need of a new opponent after Louis Smolka withdrew from their scheduled upcoming bout at UFC 264.

O’Malley and Smolka were set to meet on the main card of UFC 264, which is scheduled to take place on July 10 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. However, the fight is now off, according to MMA journalist Ariel Helwani. He confirmed the news that Smolka has withdrawn from the fight following a cryptic tweet from O’Malley suggesting a change.

Louis Smolka is out of next weekend’s UFC 264 fight versus Sean O’Malley, sources say. Undisclosed injury. They were scheduled to be on the PPV main card.

UFC is hoping to keep O’Malley on the card, I’m told, but no new opponent locked in yet.

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) June 29, 2021

Louis Smolka is out of next weekend’s UFC 264 fight versus Sean O’Malley, sources say. Undisclosed injury. They were scheduled to be on the PPV main card. UFC is hoping to keep O’Malley on the card, I’m told, but no new opponent locked in yet.

Not surprised

— Sean O'Malley (@SugaSeanMMA) June 29, 2021

Not surprised

O’Malley is coming off of a great knockout win over Thomas Almeida and many fans were hoping that he would get someone ranked in the top-15. Instead, the UFC decided to go with Smolka, a respected veteran who is coming off of a quality TKO win over Jose Quinonez in his lasts fight. Unfortunately, Smolka will no longer be fighting on the card.

The one silver lining to this is that there were fans who were unhappy the UFC decided to make the O’Malley vs. Smolka matchup in the first place, so potentially O’Malley could get a bigger-name opponent now Smolka is off the card. That being said, given that the fight is next weekend, there isn’t that much time for someone else to step up on short notice, especially someone who is ranked in the top-15, as the ranked fighters are very unwilling to step in on short notice to fight someone who doesn’t have a number beside their name.

Who do you want to step in on short notice and fight Sean O’Malley at UFC 264?