Mexican Independence Day weekend will feature two massive fights in Las Vegas, and O’Malley hopes to outshine Canelo in his Noche UFC fight against Merab Dvalishvili.
Sean O’Malley doesn’t just see himself fighting Merab Dvalishvili on September 14th at the Sphere in Las Vegas, Nevada. He’s also fighting Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, who takes on Edgar Berlanga down the street at the T-Mobile Arena.
The UFC isn’t the kind of company that welcomes competition in their backyard, especially when they’re shelling out $20+ million additional dollars to hold a visual spectacular at a venue like the Sphere. Thus far, Conor McGregor has come out and said the UFC would run Canelo off the strip. Riyadh Season Noche UFC sponsor Turki Alalshikh has also been taking shots at the boxing legend.
Now it’s “Suga” Sean O’Malley’s turn. He headlines the Sphere show, and wants to steal Canelo’s thunder by having a better fight.
Sean O’Malley eager to see if he can steal the spotlight from Canelo Alvarez who both fight on a stacked weekend of Combat Sports
“When it comes to Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, who are they talking about. Are they talking about Canelo, are they talking about the… pic.twitter.com/pADPqjED09
— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) August 12, 2024
I’m so excited for this fight,” he said on his YouTube channel. “I wasn’t actually very excited for the Aljo fight. I was like, stressed about that fight. Just because my rib [injury], my training camp wasn’t the best. It was good for what we had. And then it’s like, this is hard.”
“This fight, I’m feeling good as f—,” O’Malley continued. “I love this match up. He’s got a ten fight win streak. It’s a big fight. It’s at the Sphere. It’s in competition with boxing, which is just kinda an extra little layer.
“When it comes to Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, who are they talking about? Are they talking about Canelo? Are they talking about the boxing fight? Or are they talking about the absolute dominating, beautiful, masterful, masterclass performance that I put on Merab and the viral knockout that came with it? Or are they talking about a 36 minute Canelo boxing fight that was kinda fire?”
Is Canelo mocking Turki Alalshikh? #boxing pic.twitter.com/Df6iOPjEKG
— Thrill Boxing Magazine (@ThrillBoxing) August 9, 2024
Taking on Canelo on Mexican Independence Day weekend is a tough order for anyone, even one of UFC’s biggest stars. There is an opening though: few people asked for Canelo vs. Berlanga, and many are calling it a gimme fight with no point or purpose. That could allow O’Malley to edge in with a superstar-making performance if he defeats the legit contender Dvalishvili in spectacular fashion.
“That’s what excites me,” O’Malley said. “It’s the competition of who are they talking about Sunday, Monday, Tuesday? Who who stole the headlines? Me!”