‘Suga’ Sean O’Malley would love a champion vs champion bout against the new Featherweight king Ilia Topuria, if O'Malley puts on the performance he believes he can against Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera at UFC 299.
O’Malley was one of a number of UFC athletes in attendance at the Honda Centre to witness Ilia Topuria’s stunning second round stoppage over the long time Featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski in the main event.
Joining Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, the bantamweight champion was full of praise in regards to Topuria’s title winning performance and admitted he has watched Topuria’s career since he first faced Ryan Hall. He said:
“(It was a) Beautiful performance. Loved it. Ever since the guy came on the scene, I remember when he fought Ryan Hall, he was in the back warming up on one of the prelims, I was probably the main card, he was the prelims. I was watching him, didn’t know who he was, I was like ‘Damn, he’s fighting Ryan Hall’ Ryan was kind of killing everyone at the time and then he goes out and knocks out Ryan Hall and I’m like ‘Damn, that’s impressive.’ So I’ve watched him ever since.
Immediately following the result, ‘Suga’ took to social media to express his interest in facing the new Featherweight champion- but a large proportion of the internet disagreed with the call out. The 29-year-old explained his logic surrounding the call out, to Helwani.
“I kind of pushed for that (Topuria) fight a little bit, been getting a lot of hate for it, a little pushback saying that I am ducking Merab. Merab just barely, well not barely he whooped Henry, but Henry is like 42 or something, he looked horrible. I would’ve knocked Henry out four times in that fight and then Ilia goes out there and knocks out Volk,the greatest Featherweight of all time, in round 2, in a beautiful performance and I’m calling him out, then I’m getting sh*t from MMA fans saying ‘oh, you’re ducking Merab.’ I’m trying to call out a fight that I think is exciting that is like ‘Holy sh*t’ but I got a lot of pushback on it, I don’t know if people actually want me to fight Merab as much as they just hate the confidence that I have that I’d go out there and knock out Ilia.
“I’ve said when I needed to say, I’ve sent my message to Ilia. If Merab is next, Merab is next, I can get Ilia whenever the time comes. I haven’t talked to the UFC because there is nothing to talk about. I have got Chito Vera, March 9th, that’s what I need to focus on. I am definitely not overlooking him by any means, I have said what I have needed to say to those guys and really what it comes down to, I go out there and put on the performance that I say I am going to put on against Chito, a beautiful, masterful performance and I call out whoever I want on that mic, I think I can get whatever fight I want.”
Before O’Malley can even consider his next move, the Bantamweight champion needs to successfully make the first defence of his title against Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera at UFC 299 on March 9th. Previewing the bout, ‘Suga’ believes that ‘Chito’ simply doesn’t have what it takes to beat him and is ready to show it come fight night.
“I am going to go out there and do what I was about to do to him. Put his lights out. He’s good, he’s tough, he’s very durable but that doesn’t get the job done against me. You can’t just be tough, can’t just be durable. I believe I am more skilled, faster, more accurate and I just feel confident standing in front of him.”
You can see O’Malley’s full interview with Ariel Helwani, here -
