In an ideal situation, Sean O'Malley hopes he can return by end of January

LAS VEGAS – Sean O'Malley has been forced to sit on the sidelines with little clarification.

O’Malley (10-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) initially tested positive for traces of ostarine found in his system in October 2018 and was forced to withdraw from his UFC 229 scheduled bout vs. Jose Quinonez. He received a six-month suspension, and was eligible to return to competition after it was revealed that the traces of ostarine came from contaminated supplements.

He was scheduled to make his return at UFC 239 in July vs. Marlon Vera, but tested positive for ostarine once again stemming from a May 25 urine sample that was conducted by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).

In a formal meeting in July, O’Malley saw the commission vote unanimously to extend his temporary suspension, and his return was pushed back to an even later date.

And while O’Malley can’t say for sure when he’ll be able to return, he hopes to return to action next month.

“Hopefully early next year,” O’Malley told MMA Junkie at the Quintet Ultra scrum. “I’d like to fight January. I think everything’s getting kind of … people are understanding what’s going on a little bit more, so I think end of January would be ideal.”

In the meantime, O’Malley will be competing at the Quintet Ultra grappling competition Thursday representing Team UFC. He will be up first when he takes on Team PRIDE’s Takanori Gomi.

Grappling is an area of his game he’s been consistently working on in his time away from the cage, but O’Malley admitted it’s not the same as getting in a fist fight.

“There’s something different about a fight, preparing for a fight, and being in a fight. But I love to compete, so I’m super excited about this,” O’Malley said. “(I) took it serious. I was going to do No-Gi Worlds, same like tomorrow, but when there’s money involved, you’ve gotta pick the money, so I’m doing this. I train like this – I had a little camp for it and everything, and since I’ve been out, I’ve been doing jiu-jitsu. So I’m excited to go out there and kinda show where I’m at.”

Quintet Ultra takes place in Las Vegas ahead of UFC 245, which takes place Saturday at T-Mobile Arena. The UFC 245 main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN2 and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.