“Be nice or no title shot!” Sean O’Malley warns bantamweight contenders to keep attitude on check to earn title fight

The newly crowned Bantamweight Champion Sean O'Malley demanded respect from his fellow bantamweights before asking for title shots.

“Be nice or no title shot!” Sean O’Malley warns bantamweight contenders to keep attitude on check to earn title fight

Sean O'Malley (Source: IMAGO)

UFC Bantamweight champion “Suga” Sean O’Malley is calling the shots now in the 135 lbs division. The newly crowned champ, after his lethal knockout win against former champ Aljamain Sterling is lining up his opponents for his future title defenses. O’Malley is rumored to defend his title in December 2023. After the UFC 292 win, O’Malley spoke about a possible rematch with fellow bantamweight Chito Vera in the post-fight interview.

But some recent trash talk between the two fighters has caused some doubts over this matchup. In an interview with TMZ, O’Malley said, “Chito was acting like he earned the title shot. I think he even tweeted he was the most exciting bantamweight which is just bonkers. I don’t know how he sees that. He needs to settle down a little bit, cause I do have options. Henry(Cejudo), I pretend like is an option, but realistically he’s not. He lost his last fight“

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Further, Sean O’Malley spoke about his possible options and mentioned names like flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja, No. 1 ranked contender Merab Dvalishvili and Cory Sandhagen. One of these opponents can possibly feature in O’Malley’s first title defense in the month of December.

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The 28-year-old has created the biggest upset in the world of bantamweights after his win against Sterling. Many doubted O’Malley’s ability to compete at the highest level of the UFC. But time and again, “Suga” has answered his critics with some unbelievable performances. Since his fights from the Dana White Contenders Series to the Sean O’Malley we see today, the growth is unbelieveable in the new 135 lbs champ.

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

Ilia Topuria responds to Sean O’Malley’s callout

Ilia Topuria and Sean O'Malley
Ilia Topuria and Sean O’Malley (Image courtesy: MMA Fighting)

The newly crowned bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley mentioned the featherweight fighter Ilia Topuria‘s name a few times for a possible 145 lbs matchup. The No. 5 ranked featherweight is on the rise in the 145 roster.

In an interview, Suga Sean said that he does not plan to fight Alexander Volkanovski but would welcome a fight against Topuria if he becomes the new featherweight champion. Topuria responded by saying that he does not find any convincing reasons to face O’Malley. But he said he would reconsider if the 135 lbs champ kept winning.

Topuria is rumored to be the next opponent for featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski. This could be one of the biggest fights of Topuria’s career, as the Australian is on a dominant run in the division. But if Topuria is able to get past Volkanovksi, a blockbuster of a fight could be in the books for MMA fans.

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