What’s O’Malley’s prediction for the Topuria vs Holloway UFC clash?
The bantamweight champion shared his predictions for the fight between the Spanish-Georgian and the Hawaiian and admitted that ‘El Matador’ is one of the most skilled fighters in the UFC.
The rivalry between Sean O’Malley and Ilia Topuria is getting stronger every day. Both UFC champions, two of the most recognizeable faces in the whole promotion, keep their war of words on their socials and interviews, proving they don’t really like each other.
Their animosity could also be the perfect scenario for a potential super fight, as they are both charismatic, heavily talented and have great resumes.
Topuria’s last fight took place in February 2017, when he became the featherweight champion by knocking out Alexander Volkanovski in the second round of the UFC 298 main event.
Meanwhile, O’Malley last beat Marlon Vera at UFC 299 in March, avenging his only loss as a professional against the Ecuadorian fighter in 2020, when the American was defeated after getting injured in the first round.
O’Malley predicts the Topuria vs Holloway clash
The American, who wants to share the octagon with Topuria, shared his prediction for the featherweight title fight between ‘El Matador’ and Max Holloway.
Suga stated the Hawaiian would finish the current featherweight champion. However, he also admitted Topuria is one of the most skilled fighters in the UFC.
“Ilia’s gonna be the next Cody Garbrandt. He won his nice little fight he had, his little Dominick Cruz performance,” O’Malley said on Timbo Sugarshow.
The rivalry between the American and Topuria began before either of them were champions. They have been exchanging insults on social media ever since and the Montana native asked to fight him after his first bantamweight title defense to become a double champ.
Despite O’Malley’s insistence, Topuria hasn’t shown much interest in facing him.
“Topuria is about to get pieced up by Max Holloway and then go downhill from there,” the bantamweight king continued.
O’Malley recognizes Topuria’s quality
Ilia’s first defense will likely be against Holloway, but there’s no confirmed date or venue yet. The Spanish-Georgian warrior revealed that everything seemed ready for September 14 at the Las Vegas Sphere, but both men are receiving contradictory information and nothing has been made official.
However, O’Malley has always recognized that Topuria is a great fighter. “I feel like Ilia is one of the most skilled guys actually in the UFC, but f*ck Ilia,” he said.
Suga will firstly have to deal with Merab Dvalishvili, the number one in the bantamweight ranking. The Georgian star earned the opportunity to fight for the title after a few brilliant performances. O’ Malley has also had some beef with Dvalishvili on social media, and said he would finish him first and then go after Topuria.