A bantamweight showdown pitting Sean
O’Malley against Louis
Smolka is in the works for
UFC 264.
Multiple outlets confirmed that verbal agreements are in place for
the pairing following an initial report from journalist Ryan
Frederick on Twitter.
UFC 264 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on July 10
and is headlined by a trilogy bout between Dustin
Poirier and Conor
McGregor.
After suffering his first career defeat against Marlon Vera
at UFC 252, O’Malley returned to the win column at UFC 260, where
he defeated Thomas
Almeida via third-round knockout on March 27. The Dana White’s
Contender Series alum is 13-1 as a professional, with 10 victories
coming inside the distance.
Smolka has been victorious in three of five Octagon appearances
during his second UFC stint. Most recently, “Da Last Samurai”
stopped Jose
Alberto Quinonez in the second round of their bout at UFC on
ESPN 19 on Dec. 5. The 29-year-old Hawaiian went 5-5 during his
first go-round with the UFC, exiting the promotion on the heels of
a four-bout skid at the end of 2017.