‘Suga’ Sean O’Malley has a theory about why his original UFC 264 opponent, Louis Smolka, withdrew from their scheduled match-up less than two weeks out.
The official reason for Smolka’s sudden withdrawal is that he was declared medically unfit to fight due to an infection. ‘Da Last Samurai’ insists he still wanted to fight at UFC 264. Smolka says he still hopes to fight O’Malley “down the line”.
“I was really excited for this fight,” Smolka wrote on social media. “Being from Hawai’i, I have that jus scrap mentality so if it were solely up to me, I’d still fight. But, I have an infection so unfortunately I’ve been deemed medically unfit. It sucks, but we have to be responsible about my health and the health of my training partners and opponent. I understand that Sean is set to stay on the card so I wish him the best. I’m sure we will see each other down the line.
“This is a bummer, but it’s the reality of fight camps and continuous training. We are optimistic that we can get a new date set for you all when I my infection clears.
“Thank you to my family, the @ufc, my managers, nutritionist, coaches, team, and the fans for the help and support. I appreciate you all very much. We are known for turning setbacks into comebacks, so that’s the plan.”
O’Malley isn’t buying Smolka’s reason for withdrawal. The popular bantamweight fighter took to his YouTube channel to provide an alternative theory on his opponent’s pull-out.
“Smolka’s manager was at my gym, watching me spar the other day, a couple of weeks ago and I was on fire. I was on fire,” O’Malley said. “He asked Tim and I respectfully, he said, ‘Hey do you mind if I sit and watch?… I said, ‘Watch, tell him whatever you want, I don’t care.’ I looked f*ck*ing sharp that day. This is complete conspiracy theory. I looked sharp, I was on f*cking fire.”
“Sparring day for me is an opportunity to perform,” O’Malley added. “In my head, it’s the fight. I gotta perform, I gotta do what I do in the octagon… Did his manager go and say, ‘Hey bud, I love you, don’t take this fight. I don’t want you to die.’ Smolka’s licking fu**ing wrestling mats trying to get staph, I don’t know if you can get staph…That’s a conspiracy theory, maybe that’s what happened, maybe not.” (Transcribed by Essentially Sports)
O’Malley is now set to face UFC newcomer Kris Moutinho on the undercard of Dustin Poirier vs. Conor McGregor III on July 10.
Do you think Sean O’Malley could be onto something with his conspiracy theory surrounding Louis Smolka’s withdrawal from UFC 264?