UFC bantamweight star Sean O’Malley has shared an unconventional aspect of his training regimen that he believes might be giving him an edge in the octagon: abstaining from self-pleasure throughout 2025.
In a candid interview, O’Malley revealed that he hasn’t “gooned” — using slang terminology for self-gratification — since the beginning of the year.
“I haven’t gooned once,” O’Malley admitted when asked about his abstinence. While he clarified that this doesn’t mean complete abstinence from intimate activities, explaining, “I’ve still been, you know, baby mama, I still been making love. So it’s not like I haven’t been.”
The UFC star believes this personal discipline might be translating to improved athletic performance. When asked if avoiding self-stimulation had “unlocked a new level” within him, O’Malley responded: “I feel like I might be a little bit faster.”
Unlike some of his other training modifications, this particular decision was entirely his own. “That one was me. I’ll take credit for that one,” O’Malley stated.
The conversation touched on the longstanding tradition in combat sports of athletes abstaining from intimate activities before competitions. However, O’Malley’s approach is more specific, targeting only self-pleasure while maintaining normal relations with his partner.
His reasoning comes down to how he feels afterward. “You never feel good after you,” O’Malley explained. “You never get up and shadow box.” He elaborated that in the past, he often used self-pleasure as a sleep aid, saying, “I usually just did it for a nap, though… I got to take a nap, we got 20 minutes.”
This revelation comes during an eventful time for O’Malley, who recently welcomed a baby boy just 10 days before his upcoming bout with Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 316. The former bantamweight champion has also undergone other lifestyle changes, including abandoning his signature dyed cornrows and eliminating distractions like gaming and social media scrolling.
“I just feel more slowed down. Life is slower in a good way,” O’Malley recently shared at a media event, suggesting that his personal discipline extends beyond just abstinence from self-pleasure to a more comprehensive approach to wellness and performance.
