Reigning UFC 135-pound champion Sean O’Malley is campaigning to fight current featherweight titleholder Ilia Topuria, but will probably end up facing top-ranked bantamweight contender Merab Dvalishvili instead, since “Suga” seems to be the only interested in the “El Matador” matchup.
Then again, O’Malley has been calling out everyone under the combat sports sun.
The opponent doesn’t seem to matter in the eyes of the sportsbooks, who opened O’Malley as the betting underdog against both Topuria and Dvalishvili. “Suga” is currently +245 against -285 for “El Matador.” As for the proposed Dvalishvili fight, O’Malley stands at +160 opposite -185 for the bantamweight “Machine.”
That’s according to BetOnline.ag.
No word yet on when O’Malley is expected to make his Octagon return. “Suga” appears to have emerged from his UFC 299 title defense against Marlon Vera relatively unscathed, so it’s not unreasonable to expect a late summer or early fall title defense. The promotion should have an update within the next few weeks.
For more results and fallout from UFC 299 click here.