Sean O’Malley Reaches Settlement with Nevada Commission, Cleared for UFC 248

Sean O’Malley is finally ready to make his return to the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

During a hearing on Wednesday, the bantamweight prospect reached a settlement with the Nevada Athletic Commission from a positive test for the banned substance ostarine this past July. O’Malley’s punishment includes a nine-month retroactive suspension, which will conclude on Feb. 26. O’Malley is slated to face Jose Alberto Quinonez at UFC 248 in Las Vegas on March 7.

Additionally, O’Malley will be subject to random drug tests ahead of UFC 248, and he cannot test positive for traces of ostarine greater than 400 picograms per milliliter. He must also provide clean drug tests 30, 15 and three days away from his next fight and is required to pay more than $800 in prosecution fees to the commission.

O’Malley recently reached a resolution with USADA for an anti-doping violation stemming from two positive samples on Aug. 6 and Aug. 12. “Sugar” accepted a reduced six-month suspension — which ends on Feb. 6 — after it was determined the fighters failed tests came as a result of a tainted supplement.

O’Malley was initially suspended by USADA in 2018 for ostarine and was pulled from a proposed UFC 229 bout with Quinonez. He accepted a reduced sentence in that case as well, but a subsequent positive test resulted in the cancellation of his bout against Marlon Vera at UFC 239 in July.

A winner on Season 1 of Dana White’s Contender Series, O’Malley has earned decision wins over Terrion Ware and Andre Soukhamthath in his first two UFC appearances, the most recent of which occurred in March 2018. The 25-year-old MMA Lab representative is 10-0 as a professional.