Sean O’Malley States He Gets Why Ilia Topuria Wants No Part of a Particular 155-Pound Contender

Former UFC champ Sean O’Malley says he understands where Ilia Topuria is coming from after snubbing the #2 contender.

Sean O’Malley States He Gets Why Ilia Topuria Wants No Part of a Particular 155-Pound Contender

Sean O’Malley bills bigger promotional fights for Ilia Topuria than Arman Tsarukyan (Source: X)

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The UFC 155-pound champ Ilia Topuria is yet to receive his booking to make a title defense. In no particular order, some 3-4 names have put their names in the hat to be the top contender; one particular name floats above all due to his resume. But Topuria has said that the convoluted top order needs a win each to decide who gets it.

Former 135-pound champ Sean O’Malley gets where he’s coming from. Now #2 lightweight on the Athletes’ Listings, Arman Tsarukyan makes a clear case for gold. However, given their long feud and the charged-up face-off at UFC 317, Topuria vs. Paddy Pimblett makes for a better pay-per-view draw.

Then, there’s another previous top contender and lightweight longstay, Justin Gaethe, who believes he deserves his dues in the form of a title shot. Team Topuria representative Lukasz Orzel has hinted he’s the biggest legacy name who might get such a chance. This drives former #1 contender Arman Tsarukyan into a limbo, whom ‘El Matador’ doesn’t trust at all.

For his part, ‘Ahalkalakets’ has tried baiting in with big bucks and big talks of avoiding the legitimate challenge. However, Topuria had billed him the least likely option, given his top contender status was used up for the UFC 311 title shot and he pulled out. Sean O’Malley agrees this could be the best stylistic skills threat to Ilia Topuria and his reign at 155lbs, but he also gets the champ.

Arman definitely has a chance…In Ilia’s mind… Ilia’s such a massive superstar right now. It’s like, why fight Arman when you could fight Islam…or even Gaethje is a bigger fight than Arman. I think Paddy is a bigger fight [right now]; [in terms of promotion] so it just depends on where Ilia’s head’s at.. He’s kinda like, who’s the biggest fight? What’s gonna [get] the most attention? And in his mind, it’s not Arman right now. So, I kinda get where he’s coming from.

Sean O’Malley on ‘Overdogs Podcast with Mike Perry’ (@Overdogspod)

‘Suga’ presented that the champ was past ‘getting past’ the next best guy after the UFC 317: Topuria vs. Oliveira PPV main event. His title campaign already stands on a one-of-one triple KO feat over fan-favorite brand names like Alexander Volkanovski, Max Holloway, and Charles Oliveira. For now, it’s names that could make a dent in his fight legacy for years to come.

Is that too much on the nose of a proper ‘Jon Jones‘ territory, with fight fans accusing Topuria of ‘ducking’ the #1 contender? Probably, yes; legacy-wise, his career does better with putting the Pimblett rivalry to rest or getting past another big name like Gaethje. A 9X “Fight of the Night” post-fight honors recipient, the American fighter has bagged 14 bonuses in 14 fights.

Gaethje entertains in every scrapper he is, and is a more reliable as a legacy option. So, O’Malley gets it. For his part, O’Malley got one defense of the title in at the UFC 299 PPV vs. Marlon Vera, before gradually fumbling it at UFC Noche. His single-fight strike stats bagged him the Best ESPY Fighter after his maiden defense. For now, the ex-champ is awaiting his next booking.

Sean O’Malley wanted top contender fight on short notice for highly touted PPV co-main event

Sean O’Malley was the top name and the target for many when he held the bantamweight gold. He and then-featherweight Ilia Topuria even made similar wishes for a money fight and then crossover boxing stints. But after going 0-2 against Merab Dvalishvili in title affairs, ‘Suga’ doesn’t boast the pick of the bunch.

Sean O’Malley is pushing to get back to title redemption soon
Sean O’Malley is pushing to get back to title redemption soon (Source: X)

O’Malley is the No.1-ranked bantamweight fighter in the official listings. So, a win or two could always land him in a title affair, sooner rather than later. While he means to get back to it, the Team MMA LAB fighter feels somewhat humbled right now after a double-peat against Dvalishvili.

O’Malley asserts that he recently asked about the possibility of competing in a different co-main event PPV slot, but his request was rebuffed. This was either to be for UFC 318 or the upcoming UFC 319 card in Chicago.

I was actually trying to fight Cory when the co-main event fell out for that Max and Dustin fight…I [basically then] was like… three weeks, me vs. Cory would be sweet, but it didn’t really make sense for the UFC…Cory vs. Merab is the next fight to make. But, yeah, me vs. Cory is a very interesting fight. That’s one that’s bound to happen, sooner than later probably…

Sean O’Malley further said

After the third-round submission loss at the UFC 316 PPV event, the division has moved on to a fresh matchup for the title. Now, No.4-ranked Cory Sandhagen challenges gold at the UFC 320 PPV co-main, as was announced recently.

As for the co-headliner slot for UFC 319, he could be hinting at, it has a different booking now. It was recently announced that newcomer Aaron Pico vs. Lerone Murphy will fill that place this August 16, United Center in Chicago, Illinois.

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