LAS VEGAS – Sean O’Malley has had ups and downs over the span of the past two years.

Thanks to multiple issues with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, O’Malley (10-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) hasn’t competed inside the cage in almost two years.

At a UFC 248 pre-fight media day Thursday, O’Malley said not fighting was tough, but he recognizes his life could’ve been much worse.

“There have been ups and downs,” O’Malley told MMA Junkie. “Mostly, the downs were right after the phone call saying, ‘Hey, you got pulled off.’ But there were mostly ups. My life is still good. I still have a hot shower. I still have food to eat. I still have a house to sleep in. There’s not a lot I could complain about other than I (wasn’t) able to fight. I mean, it (was) a big deal, but it wasn’t that big of a deal. It depends on what perspective you look at it with.”

O’Malley credits the people around him with bolstering his attempt at a positive attitude. During the time he wasn’t permitted to fight, O’Malley said he managed to keep the same regiment. He thinks his improvement will be evident Saturday against Jose Quinonez.

“(I’m) just sticking with the same people who have been with me,” O’Malley said. “I stayed going to the gym, training. My lifestyle has not changed at all. I’m doing the same stuff. I’m going to the gym. I’m training. I’m having my healthy relationships with my coaches, my friends (and) my girl. We’re just keeping those simple and healthy. It makes life enjoyable.

“… The Suga Show 2.0: I feel like that’s pretty accurate. I feel like I’ve really evolved my strength and conditioning working with Brandon Harris, and my grappling working with Augusto Mendes, and all of my training partners at the MMA Lab. I feel like I’ve really evolved.”

UFC 248 isn’t the first time O’Malley and Quinonez (8-3 MMA, 5-2 UFC) have been scheduled to fight. The two were booked for UFC 229 in October 2018, but the fight was canceled as a result of one of O’Malley’s USADA test failures.

Having completed a second training camp for Quinonez, O’Malley thinks he knows what to expect from the Mexican bantamweight. O’Malley is confident he’ll get the job done.

“I feel like I’m going to come out and be faster than he expects,” O’Malley said. “He can watch my videos and go, ‘OK, he’s pretty quick.’ But I don’t think you understand how fast I am until I’m in front of you and I hit you with something you literally didn’t see. That’s scary. If someone hits you with something and you don’t know what they hit you with or how they hit you, that’s a scary person to be in front of.

“I think I’m going to hit him a lot. It’s going to give him that anxiety and make him shoot for a (expletive) takedown (and) make him throw a (expletive) right hand. When we get in scrambled combinations, he comes in with his chin up. I’m too accurate and I’m too fast. The more mistakes he makes, it’s not good for him – and he makes mistakes.”

UFC 248 takes place Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.

Check out MMA Junkie’s full UFC 248 pre-fight interview with O’Malley in the video above.