Sean O'Malley got 3 top call-outs for his first title defense within moments of knocking out Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292

Newly crowned UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley has got a huge target on his back. ‘Suga’ is one of the biggest stars in the sport today and enjoys a large fan following, particularly among the younger demographic. His win over former champion Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292 has raised his stock considerably and opened the gates for pay-per-view (PPV) stardom. As a consequence, some of the biggest names in the sport are looking to insert their name in the bantamweight title conversation.

Former two-division UFC champion and Olympic gold medalist Henry Cejudo is one of the fighters that have feuded with Sean O’Malley in the past. Cejudo seems to be pursuing one-off mega-fights at this stage of his career. He called out the newly crowned champion for a title shot and tweeted:

“Congratulations pussy @SugaSeanMMA how can you say you are the best in the world When you are not even the best in our city. @danawhite can’t give him Chito because he sucks and if you give him Merat he’s only going to wrestle. Let’s run it in PHX,” Henry Cejudo tweeted.

Sean O’Malley took a short but ultra-high-risk route to the UFC title shot when he agreed to fight former champion and then first-ranked Petr Yan at UFC 280 in October 2022. In spite of being a relatively inexperienced and lower-ranked fighter at the time, ‘Suga’ stood his ground and emerged victorious against Yan, securing a title shot in the process. However, O’Malley vs. Yan was a closely contested fight that left many questions unanswered. ‘No Mercy’ is willing to settle the score and reminded the champion that they are yet to settle the business.

“Our rematch have to happen sooner or later…” Petr Yan tweeted.

The bantamweight champion’s only professional MMA loss was handed over to him by Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera in their UFC 252 contest. A loss to Cory Sandhagen in March snapped ‘Chito’s four-fight unbeaten streak. He got back in the win column on the UFC 292 undercard with a win over Pedro Munoz.

O’Malley’s ascension to the top might catapult Vera into the title picture given their history and he seems to be aware of that. The champion called out the Ecuadorian fighter in the post-fight interview for a December fight. The 30-year-old responded positively and wrote:

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Sean O’Malley says he has ushered in the ‘Sugar Era’, wants to fight 'Chito' vera in December

The UFC bantamweight division has grown to become one of the most stacked divisions in the organization. The 135 lbs title has changed hands three times since Henry Cejudo’s retirement in 2020 and it seems logical that the trend might continue for a while.

However, Sean O’Malley is confident that he will rule the division for a long time after dethroning Aljamain Sterling. He gave props to the former champion following the contest and declared his goal:

“This is just the beginning of the Sugar Era. I’m running this sh** till 2035 baby.”

He then went on to call out Marlon 'Chito' Vera for a December fight and said:

"Did Chito win? Was it boring? Probably! I'll whoop Chito's a** this December in Vegas in T-Mobile [Arena], let's f***ing go, baby!"

Watch him make the statement from the 2:05 mark of the video below:

Given the fact that the champion is still bothered by the Chito Vera loss, it is likely that the Ecuadorian might be his next opponent. UFC 296, the December PPV, is also a probable date for former UFC champion Conor McGregor's octagon return against Michael Chandler.