Sean O’Malley isn’t feeling as confident about a possible champion vs. champion tilt as he once was.
Discussions of a possible tilt between Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Bantamweight titlist, O’Malley, and Ilia Topuria started before the latter had even become champion at UFC 298 in February 2024. That was thanks to O’Malley, who spoke on his interest in the possible match up after he and Topuria won their upcoming fights at the time.
Ultimately, the champions did win, as Topuria knocked out Alexander Volkanovski in round two (watch highlights) while O’Malley earned a unanimous decision over Marlon “Chito” Vera at UFC 299 (watch highlights) last month (March 9, 2024). O’Malley, 29, now looks on to a challenge from top-ranked Bantamweight contender, Merab Dvalishvili, and isn’t so sure a fight with Topuria will materialize as he’s hoped.
“I planted the boxing seed,” O’Malley told The Schmo of his future goals. “That’s something that could happen four or five years [later] when I’ve absolutely went down as one of the greatest of all time then we make something big happen there. That’s a possibility. There’s a possibility it never happens.
“Moving up to 145 is definitely a possibility,” he continued. “I do think I still make 135 fairly — I make it. It’s my weight class, my division. After I get through Merab, it depends. Does Ilia go out there and win his next fight? Assuming so, maybe quarter three, quarter four, 2025, Ilia vs. the ‘Sugar Show’ happens. We’ll see if I give Ilia the opportunity. I don’t know. I might stay at ‘35, beat up these guys.”
The 135-pound division is never short on contenders, so O’Malley should have no trouble making either of his mentioned possibilities a reality. First, he’ll just have to make sure he gets through “The Machine” in his next title defense.