Sean O’Malley Breaks Silence on COVID Mask Faceoff Against China’s Song Yadong: “I apologize”

Sean O’Malley has finally addressed his controversial use of a COVID mask to play mind games with Chinese combatant Song Yadong ahead of their UFC 324 clash. On Saturday, January 24th, the two will clash in the co-main event in what looks to be a consequential contest for the bantamweight contender hierarchy in 2026. At the pre-fight media day leading into not just the calendar year’s kickoff card but also the first event tied to the UFC’s Paramount deal, ‘Suga’ fielded several subjects from on-site reporters.

One of those topics centred on his polarizing use of the COVID-19 mask in what many took as a questionable and culturally charged dig at the native of China, as O’Malley responded,

“My intentions were never harmful. It was supposed to be a little silly joke, you know, it was that, and it got taken out of [context]. I apologize if I offended anybody. It was never meant to be disrespectful, just me trying to have a little fun, and it turned into something else.”

Sean O’Malley addresses comments on possible 2026 retirement

Sean O’Malley also touched on some previous statements he made related to possibly hanging up the gloves later on this calendar year. The prior comments seemed to be a bit tongue-in-cheek or perhaps designed to generate headlines at the time, as O’Malley clarified he doesn’t see himself as being done fighting by year’s end. The 31-year-old followed that up by saying that as long as his body is healthy, O’Malley will continue to fight as long as that remains the case.

The former bantamweight titleholder spoke at the UFC 324 media day about how it’s all about going with the flow and that O’Malley does not have a set amount of fights or a particular date aligned with hanging up the gloves. The ex-UFC champ mentioned it’s just about keeping pursuing this while it still feels good.

Plus, O’Malley mentioned a desire to want a rematch with current champ Petr Yan for the UFC’s White House event if O’Malley gets his desired outcome this weekend versus Song Yadong.