If Sean O'Malley is going to be forced to take some downtime from competition, then he intends on making the most of it.

Currently on a temporary suspension from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency due to a failed test, O’Malley (10-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) is going to be out of action for an as-yet-undetermined amount of time. He claims innocence in his case, but proving as much can be a lengthy process.

Because of that, O’Malley said he’s opted to go under the knife to repair a lingering hip issue. He announced the news Monday on social media (via Twitter):

O’Malley, 23, was supposed to fight Jose Quinonez at UFC 229 earlier this month. Less than two weeks out from the event, though, he announced the pending situation with USADA that forced the bout to be called off.

The decision to have surgery marks the continuation of a difficult year for “Suga.” He suffered a foot injury in his unanimous decision win over Andre Soukhamthath at UFC 222 in April and hasn’t been able to compete since.

O’Malley said he will have his surgery on Thursday, and given his early timeline, likely won’t be returning to the octagon until at least the first quarter of 2019.

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