Sean O’Malley thinks Ilia Topuria is the only potential opponent who could pose problems for Islam Makhachev.
Makhachev (28–1 MMA, 17–1 UFC) and Topuria (17–0 MMA, 9–0 UFC) seemed to be on track for a possible superfight when they held the UFC titles at 155 and 145 pounds, respectively. The matchup looked all but certain after Topuria vacated his featherweight belt to move up a division until Makhachev quickly did the same, announcing that he would challenge for the welterweight strap instead.
Now that both fighters have claimed gold in their new divisions, following Makhachev’s win over Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 322 last Saturday, former bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley wonders whether their grudge match might be back on the table.
"I'm so curious to see if Islam could do this to Ilia," O'Malley said on his YouTube channel. "Ilia matches that skill set, and I just feel like it would be a lot closer of a fight than Jack vs. Islam was. That's the fight they have to make. That's the fight they should have made this time, but they didn't.
“Islam got the job done. I want to see Ilia win his next fight just so we can see Islam vs. Ilia. That would be the biggest, most skillful fight of all time. It would honestly be hard to beat. I don't see who Islam doesn't do this to in that division.
"We haven't really seen Ilia get tested in the grappling. Bryce Mitchell is a very high-level grappler, and Ilia handled that. Ilia would be significanly smaller in height. No matter what (weight) they fight at, he will be 5-(foot)-5. It just is what it is. He's 5-5 Islam's 6-foot. They're going to look different.
“But Ilia's skill set is so high. They're both 10/10 in MMA – rare Jon Jones 10/10. There are a couple of people in MMA who have that skill set who can do everything: strike, wrestle and jiu-jitsu. Both those guys have it. In that sense, maybe size does come in."
