Sean O’Malley vs. Eddie Wineland booked for UFC 250 on June 6th.

An intriguing UFC bantamweight matchup between surging prospect, ‘Sugar’ Sean O’Malley and former WEC bantamweight champion, Eddie Wineland is on deck for UFC 250 on June 6th. – with the UFC Apex facility in Las Vegas, Nevada expected to host the card.

Popular striker, O’Malley will make a timely turnaround – following a first-round demolition of José Alberto Quiñónez at UFC 248 in March. Knockout artist, Wineland will make his first appearance since June of last year, where he defeated Grigory Popov via second-round knockout. News of the pairing was initially reported by ESPN reporter, Ariel Helwani.

Regaining some significant momentum – Montana native O’Malley, made his first Octagon appearance in two years. Following hip surgery, the 25-year-old was handed a six-month suspension by anti-doping agency, USADA after he provided a sample which returned a positive test for ostarine. He was then removed from a high-profile pairing with Marlon Vera – after once more testing positive for ostarine, which resulted in another six-month ban. It was then concluded that the second failed result came due to residual from the year prior.

Inside the Octagon, however, O’Malley has been so far flawless. Following a statement performance against Alfred Khashakyan on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contenders Series in July of 2017, the MMA Lab trainee scored victories over Terrion Ware, Andre Soukhamthath, and the aforementioned, Quiñónez.

Promotion mainstay, Wineland will make his fourteenth Octagon appearance, having joined the UFC ranks back in March of 2011. Despite two straight losses to former WEC featherweight best, Urijah ‘The California Kid’ Faber, and Joseph ‘Joey Two Times’ Benavidez – the 35-year-old would go on to tackle Renan Barão for the interim 135-pound title in 2013, after wins over Brad Pickett, and Scott Jorgensen.

In his last five outings, Wineland has scored a 3-2 record with victories over Frankie Saenz, Takeya Mizugaki, and the aforementioned Popov. This will be Wineland’s first appearance since the June triumph – as he was removed from a pairing with the above mentioned, Vera at UFC Fight Night Columbus on March 28th. – after the card was postponed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Ross Markey

Senior writer for FightBook MMA. An aspiring mixed martial arts reporter based in Ireland. Producer of news articles, interviews, opinion features, and exclusive features such as, ‘The Fallout’, ‘The Breakdown, and, ‘This Week In MMA’.