“Too easy of a challenge” – Ilia Topuria and Sean O’Malley go back and forth after Spanish featherweight star brushes off superstar’s talents

Sean O'Malley and Ilia Topuria exchanged tweets on the internet. Topuria believes the bantamweight champion remains unaccomplished to challenge him.

“Too easy of a challenge” – Ilia Topuria and Sean O’Malley go back and forth after Spanish featherweight star brushes off superstar’s talents

Ilia Topuria and Sean O'Malley (Courtesy-Imago)

Sean O’Malley beat the reigning champion Aljamain Sterling, against all odds at UFC 292. He needed only two rounds to get the win as he stunned Aljo with a perfectly timed right hand. Numerous fans and fighters alike have congratulated “Suga” for the win. While many praised O’Malley, some were not impressed by him. Ilia Topuria of the featherweight division openly discredited Sean O’Malley’s victory.

Ilia Topuria took shots at Sean O’Malley on social media. He said that the bantamweight champion did not pose any threat to him. O’Malley answered by saying that it was Topuria who needed to step up. El Matador wrote, “I see this fight as too easy of a challenge.” Hence, he did not want to fight O’Malley at the moment. However, he will consider a fight between them when O’Malley captures his attention with more impressive wins.

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Topuria has an impressive combat resume with 14 wins and 0 losses. His last fight against Josh Emmet became the most impressive fight of his career. The Spanish fighter specializes in wrestling and poses knockout and submission threats. Since his UFC debut in 2020, Topuria has performed excellently and received numerous post-fight bonuses as well.

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A fight between O’Malley and Topuria will not happen anytime soon. Suga has numerous contenders to face in the bantamweight division. On the other hand, Topuria needs to dethrone Alexander Volkanovski in the featherweight division. A super fight between the two will only happen if they keep winning.

Related: Sean O’Malley reveals promising message from Dana White as UFC boss wrapped belt around him at UFC 292

Sean O’Malley and featherweight rumors

Sean O'Malley
Sean O’Malley (Courtesy-Forbes)

Sean O’Malley proved his worth as a top-tier fighter when he captured the bantamweight title at UFC 292. The fight highlighted O’Malley’s striking superiority and the threat he posed to fellow bantamweights. Sterling fought O’Malley hoping to defeat him and challenge the featherweight champion. Now that O’Malley is the champion, he clearly does not wish to do the same.

Right after his title win, O’Malley chose to call out Marlon Vera. Vera is the only fighter to beat O’Malley in his MMA career. O’Malley is also looking at other potential fighters but does not intend to move up in weight at the moment. Suga stated Sterling’s decision to challenge Volkanovski was foolish. He has no intention to challenge Volkanovski.

However, O’Malley has also revealed that he would challenge for the featherweight belt if Topuria became the champion. O’Malley will have the height advantage in a potential fight. Moving up the weight would not be an issue, though this will not happen anytime soon.

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