UFC Featherweight champion Ilia Topuria has dismissed any possibility of fighting Sean O’Malley. Initially, Suga called out “El Matador” after the former Bantamweight champion won his fight against Marlon Vera. Citing his desire to move up in weight, O’Malley aspired to become a two-division champion. However, Topuria did not seem interested in the fight and asked Suga to defend his belt against Merab Dvalishvili.
Topuria claims he is better than Suga
Unfortunately, his fight against Dvalishvili did not go as expected. Sean O’Malley suffered a huge setback after losing his belt at UFC 306. Reacting to the prospects of a Topuria vs. O’Malley bout, the Georgian fighter spoke to Marca and said, “Some other better fight will come along. It’s the same with Paddy. It seemed like a super attractive fight, but if you are not at the level what can I do? You get defeated even before you get into the Octagon with me. I don’t even need to go in there to tell people that I’m better than you. So why fight?”
Topuria’s claims are not vague. Before the UFC 306 bout, O’Malley was being considered the clear favorite between him and Dvalishivili. But as soon as the bout began, “The Machine” looked totally dominating and he even implied a clever strategy of staying out of Suga’s reach. The moment O’Malley moved to land punches on his opponent, Merab swiftly attacked him with takedowns. During the five-round fight, Dvalishivili landed a total of over 12 takedowns to put an end to O’Malley’s chances of winning.
El Matador is set to face the BMF champion
With Sean O’Malley now out of the equation, Illia Topuria will face Max Holloway next. The BMF champion is coming off a dominant KO win against Justin Gaethje, so he is expected to give a tough fight to Topuria. Both Holloway and Topuria have been going back and forth on social media, accusing each other of avoiding the fight. Now that the matchup is official, Topuria will have to be extra careful not to suffer the same fate as Suga. Furthermore, Topuria will also face former champion Alexander Volkanovski next if he is successful in defeating “Blessed.”
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After defeating “The Great,” Topuria was expected to have an immediate rematch with him. However, after suffering two consecutive knockouts, Volkanovski decided to take some time off to rehabilitate himself. Thus, with challenges for both El Matador and Suga, it remains to be seen how things progress in the future.
