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UFC bantamweight star Sean O'Malley has put forth a one-word reaction after Marcus McGhee agreed to compete on short notice at UFC Vegas 72. Having amassed a 6-1 professional MMA record thus far, McGhee is all set to make his UFC debut at this weekend's UFC Vegas 72 event (April 29, 2023).
The UFC Vegas 72 fight card was initially set to feature a bantamweight (135-pound) bout between Brian Kelleher and Journey Newson. Earlier this week, Kelleher withdrew from the fight owing to an injury, leaving Newson without an opponent.
The UFC subsequently roped in Marcus McGhee, who agreed to a short-notice matchup against Journey Newson. The news was first reported by MMA journalist Marcel Dorff. As highlighted in a tweet by Dorff, the Newson-McGhee matchup, which will transpire at UFC Vegas 72, would be contested at a catchweight of 140 pounds.
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Journey Newson's most recent fight saw him suffer a unanimous decision defeat against Sergey Morozov at UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs. Strickland in December 2022. Meanwhile, Marcus McGhee's last MMA bout saw him defeat Luciano Ramos via third-round TKO at LFA 149 in January of this year.
'Sugar' Sean O'Malley has now taken to his official Twitter account to praise his teammate Marcus McGhee for accepting the short-notice matchup against Journey Newson at UFC Vegas 72. 'Sugar' responded to a tweet that noted that McGhee had accepted the fight on just three days' notice. He lauded McGhee by simply writing:
"Beast"
Could 'Sugar' Sean O'Malley's next fight be a UFC title matchup?
Sean O'Malley last competed in a back-and-forth showdown against former UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan at UFC 280 in October 2022. 'Sugar' won the fight via split decision and currently stands at the No. 2 spot in the official UFC bantamweight rankings. Many believe that the victory over Yan has catapulted him into the bantamweight title picture.
Meanwhile, former UFC flyweight and bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo, who retired from MMA in May 2020, is set to return to the octagon. 'Triple C' is scheduled to face reigning UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling for the latter's title. The Sterling-Cejudo showdown will headline the UFC 288 event on May 6, 2023.
Considering the aforementioned variables at play, the consensus is that Sean O'Malley is highly likely to receive the next shot at the UFC bantamweight championship. Many foresee O'Malley facing the winner of the Sterling-Cejudo matchup later this year.
'Funk Master' and Cejudo themselves have consistently maintained that they'd love to face O'Malley inside the octagon. Moreover, 'Sugar' himself has time and again called out Sterling and Cejudo over the past few years.
