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Ilia Topuria Dismisses Fight With Sean O’Malley Following UFC 306 Defeat: ‘I’m Better Than You’
Ilia Topuria rules out a fight with Sean O'Malley after his UFC 306 defeat, focusing on future plans as speculation about a potential matchup is shut down.
Ilia Topuria has dismissed any chances of him fighting against Sean O’Malley. Initially, after ‘Suga’ won his fight against Marlon Vera, the former UFC bantamweight champion called out Ilia Topuria. Citing his desire to move up in weight, O’Malley aspired to become a two-division champion. However, Topuria did not seem interested in the fight and asked ‘Suga’ to defend his belt against Merab Dvalishvili.
Unfortunately, his outing against ‘The Machine’ did not turn out as expected. Dropping his belt at UFC 306, O’Malley suffered a huge setback. Reacting to the prospects of an Ilia Topuria vs Sean O’Malley fight, ‘El Matador’ spoke to Marca, saying, “Some other better fight will come along. It's the same with Paddy. It seemed like a super attractive fight, but if you're not at the level, what can I do? You get defeated even before you get into the octagon with me. I don't even need to get in there for people to know that I'm better than you. So why fight?”
Well, Topuria’s claims are not vague. Leading up to the fight, O’Malley was touted as the clear favorite between the two. But as the fight started, Dvalishvili looked like a man on a mission. The Georgian implied a clever strategy of staying out of O’Malley’s reach. The moment O’Malley advanced to land his punches on Dvalishvili, the challenger swiftly attacked the champion with takedowns. Over the course of five rounds, Dvalishvili landed a total of over 12 takedowns to derail O’Malley’s chances of retaining his title.
Meanwhile, with Sean O’Malley out of the equation, Ilia Topuria will be bracing against Max Holloway next. The UFC BMF champion, who is coming off a brutal KO victory against Justin Gaethje, is expected to land Topuria in significant trouble. Both Holloway and Topuria have gone back and forth on social media, blaming each other for ducking the fight. Now that the fight is official, Topuria will have to be extra cautious not to suffer the same fate as ‘Suga’.
Moreover, ‘El Matador’ will also face ex-champion Alexander Volkanovski next if he manages to beat Holloway. Having tamed the featherweight king, Topuria expected an instant rematch with ‘Volk’. However, having suffered back-to-back knockouts, Volkanovski decided to take some time off to recompose himself. Thus, with challenges coming up both for Topuria and O’Malley, it remains to be seen how things pan out.
ALSO READ: Ilia Topuria Gives Update on His Return UFC Fight Against Max Holloway; Details Inside
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