Sean O'Malley denies ducking Payton Talbott, says White House offer never happened

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Sean O'Malley says he welcomes a fight with Payton Talbott when the time is right but rejects claims he avoided it, insisting he was never offered Talbott for UFC White House in June. He said he would swear on his family that no such offer reached him and believes Talbott made up the story. Talbott called out O'Malley after knocking out Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 332. O'Malley's next move hinges on the Petr Yan vs. Merab Dvalishvili bantamweight title trilogy at UFC 333 on Oct. 24 in Abu Dhabi, and an O'Malley vs. Talbott matchup could follow if Dvalishvili retains.

AgentMMA.com

Sean O'Malley has pushed back on suggestions that he ducked Payton Talbott, saying he was never offered the fight for UFC White House in June. The bantamweight contender said he would swear on his family that no such offer reached him and believes Talbott invented the story.

O'Malley said he welcomes a fight with Talbott when the timing is right, but rejected the idea that he avoided it. The exchange follows Talbott's callout of O'Malley after he knocked out Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 332 on Oct. 3.

The two bantamweights

O'Malley, 31, is 20-3 and ranked second at 135 pounds. The American switch-stance striker trains at MMA Lab and lands 6.05 significant strikes per minute at 60 percent accuracy. He stands five-foot-eleven with a 72-inch reach.

Talbott, 28, is 12-1 and ranked 11th in the division. Fighting out of Reno Academy of Combat, the American is also a switch-stance fighter. He lands 6.62 significant strikes per minute at 56 percent accuracy, and he is five-foot-ten with a 70-inch reach. His win over Figueiredo, a 38-year-old Brazilian ranked ninth at 25-8-1, gave him a signature finish to build his callout on.

Why it matters

O'Malley's next step depends on the bantamweight title trilogy between Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 333 on Oct. 24 in Abu Dhabi.
If Dvalishvili retains the belt, an O'Malley vs. Talbott matchup could follow.
The dispute over the White House offer adds a personal edge to a fight that would pit two switch-stance strikers against each other, with O'Malley ranked nine spots above Talbott.

For now, the two sides disagree on whether a fight was ever put in front of O'Malley. His comments make clear he is open to facing Talbott, but only once the title picture at bantamweight settles.