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Sean O'Malley recently outlined his future bouts, taking aim at the featherweight division after he competes against Merab Dvalishvili at UFC Noche. The reigning bantamweight champion will have a massive platform as he headlines the historic event at the Sphere in Las Vegas and could use that to his advantage should he earn an impressive win.
'Sugar' has been open about his aspirations of moving up and competing at featherweight as well as some appealing bouts for him should he remain at 135 pounds. His upcoming bout against 'The Machine' will mark his second bantamweight title defense and could propel him into more lucrative bouts, especially considering his continued surge in popularity.
During a recent episode of his TimboSugarShow podcast, the reigning UFC bantamweight champion weighed in on the landscape of the bantamweight division and expressed interest in fighting the winner of Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway. O'Malley mentioned that there are plenty of options for him and outlined his potential opponents after Dvalishvili. He said:
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"[Deiveson Figueiredo] called me out, that could be next. Max [Holloway] vs. Ilia [Topuria] is coming up, would love an opportunity to go to [1]45. So, Max, Ilia, [Umar] Nurmagomedov, 'Figgy], I got a lot of options...Just cause you win doesn't mean you're gonna be able to pick. But I go out there flatline Merab [Dvalishvili], I feel like that call out would mean something."
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Check out Sean O'Malley's comments below:
Sean O'Malley heaps praise on Umar Nurmagomedov
Umar Nurmagomedov recently earned the biggest win of his MMA career as he earned a unanimous decision win over Cory Sandhagen in the main event of UFC on ABC 7 this past Saturday.
Sean O'Malley heaped praise on the Dagestani for his performance and defeating a top contender in Sandhagen. During the aforementioned episode, the reigning bantamweight champion named 'Young Eagle' as the toughest opponent for him in the division. He said:
"I was impressed by both [Nurmagomedov and Sandhagen]...Umar is a tough fight. I thought [Aljamain Sterling] was the toughest fight for me in the division at the time, knocked him out. I think Umar is probably one of the toughest challenges in the division right now." [25:27 - 26:03]
Check out the full episode of Sean O'Malley's podcast below:
