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Sean O'Malley thinks Alexander Volkanovski has the best chance of beating Islam Makhachev.
Makhachev is looking to defend the UFC lightweight championship for the first time at UFC 284. The Russian will take on reigning featherweight champion Volkanovski, who is being underestimated despite being the number one pound-for-pound fighter. During an episode of the BrOMalley Show, O’Malley had this to say about the 155-pound title fight on February 11:
“What I was trying to say about Alexander Volkanovski, he’s mastered his style. He’s shorter, he’s compact. Is he gonna be able to get taken down and held down? You would assume yes if you watched Islam’s fights. You would think, ok, why would Alexander Volkanovski be able to stop Islam, but I think if anyone can do it, it is Alexander Volkanovski. I do think if anyone can beat Islam, it’s me or Alexander Volkanovski. I’m kidding, chill…”
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Volkanovski is highly respected in the MMA community, but he’s coming up in weight to fight the Russian savage. Makhachev lost his first fight in 2015 and has won eleven consecutive UFC fights since. ‘The Great’ looks to end his win streak by pulling off an upset in Perth, Australia.
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Watch Sean O'Malley discuss Islam Makhachev vs. Alexander Volkanovski below:
Sean O'Malley says he’s the superstar that the UFC needs
Sean O'Malley validated his hype by defeating Petr Yan at UFC 280. Although the split decision was controversial, O’Malley is one step closer to fighting for the UFC bantamweight world championship. During the same podcast episode, ‘Sugar’ had this to say about being the superstar the UFC needs:
“UFC needs a superstar right now. They got Jon Jones, but he’s getting older, and he’s not guaranteed to get to the fight (at UFC 285). I think he will... Paddy (Pimblett) was like, ‘Could he be?’ Then we see his last fight, now he’s getting surgery. He still has potential. He still could be a massive superstar. The only person I can think of is ‘The Sugar Show’ that has the potential to be that motherf***er.”
O’Malley hopes to use his star power to secure a title shot in his next outing. Reigning champion Aljamain Sterling is expected to defend his throne against Henry Cejudo next, but there isn’t an official date. ‘Sugar’ plans to wait and fight the winner later in the year.
