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Sean O’Malley doesn’t like the sound of playing second fiddle to Ilia Topuria.

Ideally, the reigning Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Bantamweight champion, O’Malley, has hoped for an eventual clash with his fellow titleholder at Featherweight, Topuria. Until that can happen, they’ll each have to get through some top contenders.

O’Malley, 29, will likely next defend his 135-pound crown opposite the surging Georgian, Merab Dvalishvili. With no dates locked in, O’Malley recently pondered possibly competing on another stacked card like his last time out at UFC 299 in March 2024. However, what if he didn’t headline it? “Sugar’s” return timing could align with Topuria’s for his expected next clash against Max Holloway. Depending on the business dealings of such an event, O’Malley wouldn’t be too fond of the concept.

“I’m hoping they do a crazy card like they did in Miami and put me on the main event, get that pay-per-view [points], boy,” O’Malley said on his TimboSugar Show podcast. “I’m trying to think who I would co-main with. Ilia? Yeah. (Sighs) I would be upset. He’s too short.

“If he was taller than me, I’d say that’s fine, but the fact that he’s 5’4” main eventing over me would piss me off,” he continued. “I’d be fine with it if I got pay-per-view. I don’t know if they’d do Max vs. Ilia, me vs. Merab. ‘Cause I’m wondering if Max is gonna get pay-per-view next fight. Not [just] for the BMF, but also because he’s that big of a star. There’s zero perfect chance UFC pays me, Ilia, and Max pay-per-view. So, I don’t think that’s it.”

No matter who is next for Topuria, it will be his first title defense as a champion. O’Malley, on the other hand, successfully defended his title for the first time at the aforementioned UFC 299 event when he won a unanimous decision in his rematch against Marlon “Chito” Vera (watch highlights).

The common goal among most up-and-coming regional (or international) mixed martial arts (MMA) prospects is to one day compete for Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Other major promotions such as Bellator MMA, Professional Fighter’s Leagues, and ONE Championship are not far behind. Literally, countless prospects across the globe are all working toward the same career goal, making it difficult to stand out in the sea of competition. As often as possible, MMAmania.com will highlight a different combat sports prospect to keep your eyes on.

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Mansher Khera

Age: 32

Height: 5’10”

Weight class: Lightweight

Record: 7-0

Gym: Culture Fight Club/Tiger Schulmann’s MMA

The definition of prospect is very fluid because of a fighter’s age. While 32 is old for some people, it is typically the age at which fighters reach their prime—and for New York’s Mansher Khera, he is currently at the top of his game.

Khera was born in America but grew up in India. He was always a fan of martial arts, doing taekwondo and wrestling as a child, but he fell in love with MMA and combat sports when The Ultimate Fighter season one aired. When he moved back to America, he dove head-first into Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ), eventually receiving his black belt under Marcelo Garcia and becoming a world champion.

Rich Burmaster/Fury FC 90

Khera made his professional MMA debut on Jan. 21, 2022, at Jorge Masvidal’s iKON FC 1, where he submitted Travis Floyd in the second round. (He fought a month prior at Gamebred Fighting Championship 3, a bare-knuckle MMA promotion, and won via first-round TKO.)

Khera has six finishes in his seven fights—all submission wins, four of them in the first round. There is no doubt that Khera has elite grappling, and that will lead him to many wins. He is improving his striking tremendously, which would make him a real problem to deal with.

In his last outing at Fury FC 90, he became the first person to finish fellow prospect Hector Saenz.

Check out other highlights:

In addition to being a finisher, Khera has another big reason the UFC should consider him: He’s Indian. Only three Indians have fought in the UFC: Arjan Bhullar, Bharat Khandare, and Anshul Jubli. With such a gigantic market, it would honestly be stupid for the promotion to pass him up.

UFC is where Khera wants to be.

“I want to be in the UFC anyway possible,” Khera told MMAMania.com recently. “I’m gonna get to the UFC because I believe in myself, and I believe if I can get into UFC within the next year or two, I’ll crack the top 15. I’m 100% sure of my abilities. This is what I want to dedicate my time to. I’m gonna call my manager, and whatever the next step is, you know, whether it is the Contender Series or a short notice fight, whatever it is, I’m ready to go. I’m ready to challenge myself. And I’m ready to take these guys out in the first round.”

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For more regional MMA news and notes click here.

The common goal among most up-and-coming regional (or international) mixed martial arts (MMA) prospects is to one day compete for Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Other major promotions such as Bellator MMA, Professional Fighter’s Leagues, and ONE Championship are not far behind. Literally, countless prospects across the globe are all working toward the same career goal, making it difficult to stand out in the sea of competition. As often as possible, MMAmania.com will highlight a different combat sports prospect to keep your eyes on.

---

Mansher Khera

Age: 32

Height: 5’10”

Weight class: Lightweight

Record: 7-0

Gym: Culture Fight Club/Tiger Schulmann’s MMA

The definition of prospect is very fluid because of a fighter’s age. While 32 is old for some people, it is typically the age at which fighters reach their prime—and for New York’s Mansher Khera, he is currently at the top of his game.

Khera was born in America but grew up in India. He was always a fan of martial arts, doing taekwondo and wrestling as a child, but he fell in love with MMA and combat sports when The Ultimate Fighter season one aired. When he moved back to America, he dove head-first into Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ), eventually receiving his black belt under Marcelo Garcia and becoming a world champion.

Rich Burmaster/Fury FC 90

Khera made his professional MMA debut on Jan. 21, 2022, at Jorge Masvidal’s iKON FC 1, where he submitted Travis Floyd in the second round. (He fought a month prior at Gamebred Fighting Championship 3, a bare-knuckle MMA promotion, and won via first-round TKO.)

Khera has six finishes in his seven fights—all submission wins, four of them in the first round. There is no doubt that Khera has elite grappling, and that will lead him to many wins. He is improving his striking tremendously, which would make him a real problem to deal with.

In his last outing at Fury FC 90, he became the first person to finish fellow prospect Hector Saenz.

Check out other highlights:

In addition to being a finisher, Khera has another big reason the UFC should consider him: He’s Indian. Only three Indians have fought in the UFC: Arjan Bhullar, Bharat Khandare, and Anshul Jubli. With such a gigantic market, it would honestly be stupid for the promotion to pass him up.

UFC is where Khera wants to be.

“I want to be in the UFC anyway possible,” Khera told MMAMania.com recently. “I’m gonna get to the UFC because I believe in myself, and I believe if I can get into UFC within the next year or two, I’ll crack the top 15. I’m 100% sure of my abilities. This is what I want to dedicate my time to. I’m gonna call my manager, and whatever the next step is, you know, whether it is the Contender Series or a short notice fight, whatever it is, I’m ready to go. I’m ready to challenge myself. And I’m ready to take these guys out in the first round.”

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For more regional MMA news and notes click here.

Sean Strickland is pretty good at getting on someone’s bad side.

For Belal Muhammad, the former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight champion expressed too much hypocrisy and attention-seeking in a previous exchange. Since then, Muhammad and Strickland have had some verbal back-and-forths and even a run-in at the UFC Performance Institute (P.I.).

Strickland, 33, has never been the most sensitive of individuals, depending on the topic at hand, which is where Muhammad first drew issue.

“Honestly, I had no care about him at all until I posted one thing about Palestine and it was literally like three years ago,” Muhammad said on money loyalty legacy. “Same thing, they were getting bombed and he just commented on there when it had nothing to do with him because he likes to just put his nose into stuff and get attention.

“He said something like, ‘They need to just give up. They’re gonna end up losing anyway, they just need to bend the knee,’” he continued. “It was like the stupidest statement ever, but he did it just to get attention and get a comment out of myself. So, when somebody like that, who’s laughing at people dying and making a joke of it, it just shows what kind of person he is. He’s like a piece of trash.”

Muhammad, 35, highlighted the contrast between Strickland’s struggles with the comments he makes. This past January 2024, the build to Strickland’s last fight against Dricus du Plessis at UFC 297 brought out mentions of Strickland’s father and rough upbringing. Ultimately, it led the then-champion to speak on the matter in a podcast with Theo Von that saw the emotions flow.

“Recently where he was crying on Theo Von about his dad and, ‘You can’t talk about my dad. Don’t bring up family. That’s dirty when you do it,’” Muhammad said. “But you’re literally talking about kids that just got bombed. Kids that are dying and you’re making a joke of it, but when it comes back to you — it was all fake. It was trying to get that clout.

“Sean Strickland has too many followers because they’re waiting for that one stupid thing he’s gonna say and he understands that now,” he continued. “So, that’s why he continues to do it and continues to play off that role of ‘I’m this crazy dude and I’ll stab you if you do anything, bro.’ He doesn’t. He’s not gonna do anything. He’s all talk.”

Muhammad will get his long-awaited Welterweight title shot at UFC 304 against Leon Edwards in two months (July 27, 2024). Before that, Strickland looks to rebound off his du Plessis loss (watch highlights) with a win over Paulo Costa at UFC 302 next weekend (Sat., June 1, 2024).