Coach: O'Malley moving to featherweight 'definitely possible'

Sean O'Malley's head coach wouldn't be surprised if the former UFC bantamweight champion moves to the featherweight division at some point in his career.

"It's definitely possible," Tim Welch said on "The Ariel Helwani Show" on Wednesday. "There's still really big fights at bantamweight. Sean's 5-foot-11, he walks around at around 160 pounds. If we took six, seven months to put three, four, five pounds of muscle on him, he definitely could hang with a lot of the 145ers."

O'Malley is scheduled to challenge Merab Dvalishvili for the 135-pound title in an immediate rematch at UFC 316 on June 7 in Newark. O'Malley dropped the belt to Dvalishvili in lopsided fashion at UFC 306 last September and hasn't fought since.

While a second defeat to Dvalishvili could expedite O'Malley's jump to 145 pounds, Welch said there's a good chance he'll eventually move up in weight regardless.

"I think there's a bunch of really big fights for him at 145," Welch said. "These weight cuts, they really are brutal. ... They're tough every single time. But he's the most professional when it comes to cutting weight. ... He's going to make weight every single time."

O'Malley, who became one of MMA's biggest names when he claimed the title in 2023, carries an 18-2 (1 NC) record into his rematch against Dvalishvili.