Undisputed bantamweight champion, Sean O’Malley’s quest for a featherweight title charge in the immediate aftermath of his dominant UFC 299 win over the weekend have been knocked back by promotional CEO, Dana White, who claims talk of a fight against newly-minted kingpin, Ilia Topuria is simply “crazy”.
O’Malley, the current undisputed bantamweight champion, headlined UFC 299 in his return to the Octagon over the course of last weekend in Miami, turning in a blistering rematch with over title challenger, Marlon Vera – avenging his sole career defeat in a lopsided unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45) victory over the Ecuadorian.
Bloodying and battering the Chone native over the course of five one-sided rounds, Montana native, Sean O’Malley had been linked with a turnaround against streaking top-contender, Merab Dvalishvili in his next outing after UFC 299, however, immediately switched focus to a charge against Topuria.
Sean O’Malley denied title charge against Ilia Topuria by Dana White
Urging the promotion to get him on a flight to Spain – amid calls from Topuria for a first championship outing in his residency, O’Malley has been told to hold his proverbial horses by White, who claimed calls for a charge at 145 pounds was “crazy”.
“I don’t know about moving divisions, you know how I feel about that,” Dana White told assembled media after UFC 299. “I mean, even (Ilia) Topuria was talking about not fighting anybody in the division after just winning the title, that’s crazy talk.”
Furthermore, off the back of O’Malley’s call out issued to him, Topuria instructed the Dana White’s Contender Series product to defend his bantamweight championship against the above-mentioned, Dvalishvili first and foremost.
Himself seizing the featherweight crown just last month, German-born star, Topuria turned in a blistering second round KO win over dominant champion, Alexander Volkanovski in the pair’s title outing atop UFC 298 in Anaheim.
Who wins in a future title clash: Ilia Topuria or Sean O’Malley?