"Let's be realistic" - Sean O'Malley open to move up to featherweight for champ-champ status, but only on one condition

Sean O'Malley is well-aware of a recent trend among UFC champions. Once a fighter wins an undisputed title, it isn't long before they set their sights on the champions in the weight class above, or in some cases, below them. This can be credited to Conor McGregor's legendary ascension to double champion status.

However, Sean O'Malley has opted to be more methodical about a move up to the featherweight division. Where Aljamain Sterling and Henry Cejudo expressed confidence in beating the 145-pound king, Alexander Volkanovski, 'Sugar' has opted to recognize just how dominant he has been.

On a video posted on his official YouTube channel, Sean O'Malley spoke about the prospect of facing Volkanovski, while also criticizing Sterling's prior overconfidence in his ability to challenge 'The Great.' He said (at 23:45 minutes) as much:

"Like, dude, chill. Let's be realistic here. I ain't f****** calling for Volk."

This prompted O'Malley's coach to chime in and cite Sterling's potential size advantage at featherweight possibly giving him a strong chance against Volkanovski. To that, O'Malley said the following:

"It could be a sweet fight. I was talking sh*t. That was my little way of talking sh*t. Like, come on, you don't wanna fight him, Aljo. But if Ilia goes up there and beats Volk, I'd go up to 45 and fight Ilia. I just don't think Ilia would beat Volk."

It seems that O'Malley's condition for potentially moving up in weight to featherweight would be if Ilia Topuria manages to defeat Alexander Volkanovski, as he sees a potential path to victory against the surging Spaniard.

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Is Sean O'Malley interested in fighting Merab Dvalishvili?

Sean O'Malley and Merab Dvalishvili have a measure of the enmity they feel towards each other. 'Sugar' unwittingly handed the Georgian phenom his jacket during his in-cage face-off with Aljamain Sterling at UFC 288, which prompted him to put on 'Sugar's' jacket in a moment that's still celebrated by fans.

However, upon noticing that Dvalishvili had donned his jacket, O'Malley stormed towards him and nearly sparked a melee before security retrieved the jacket on his behalf. Despite the incident, 'Sugar' has remained adamant about facing either Marlon 'Chito' Vera in his first title defense or boxing Gervonta Davis.