UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley put on a striking masterclass in his UFC 299 title defense against Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera on Saturday. Winning the bout via unanimous decision, ‘Suga’ avenged the only loss in his career, having lost via TKO to Vera in their UFC 252 clash, which the flamboyant bantamweight has maintained happened only because of a freak injury.

After his dominant victory, O’Malley called on Dana White and the UFC to let him face newly-minted featherweight champion Ilia Topuria instead of Merab Dvalishvili, his next opponent according to Dana White. However, this did not go down well with many, including former champion Aljamain Sterling, who felt that the Montana native should have ‘done the right thing’.

‘Aljo’ rebukes Sean O’Malley for ignoring Merab Dvalishvili

Merab Dvalishvili defeated former two-division champion and Olympic gold medallist Henry Cejudo in their UFC 298 bout last month to officially become the number one title contender for the UFC bantamweight title.

However, O’Malley called out Ilia Topuria, with whom he has feuded over the past year on social media, and who has become one of the biggest stars in the UFC after his spectacular win over Alexander Volkanovski last month.

While Dana White clarified that this was not in the offing anytime soon, O’Malley’s callout rubbed Aljamain Sterling, who is also very good friends with Dvalishvili, the wrong way. ‘Aljo’ felt that Vera was an easy opponent for O’Malley and had been given a title shot out of turn only because ‘Suga’ wanted to fight him. Aljamain Sterling says the UFC tried to make Chito Vera look like a good win for O’Malley. Also says his Ilia callout was “ridiculous”.

“You defended the belt against a guy who wasn’t even ranked in the top 5, they moved him up to the top 5 to make it look like he was better.… pic.twitter.com/AKzYC47ZvX

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) March 10, 2024

“Yeah, you won, but you won against a guy that we were all expecting you to beat. So as a champion, it’s hard for me to put a lot of stock in that because I just can’t respect it as much,” Sterling added. While ‘Funkmaster’ was not happy at all with the champion’s conduct, Dvalishvili, who was at the event, had a predictable reaction to it.

O’Malley ignores ‘The Machine’ after UFC 299 win

Merab Dvalishvili was present ringside at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida for UFC 299. The Georgian was outraged at Sean O’Malley calling Ilia Topuria out. Dvalishvili could be heard saying “I’m so pi**ed, he didn’t call me out. Come on bro, I’m number one contender, fight me” after ‘Suga’s post-fight octagon interview.

Read More: Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera Injury: “That Knee Shifted Something “ BW Transported to Hospital After Sean O’Malley UFC 299 Has Fans Worried

It got worse for ‘The Machine’, however, as he went up to O’Malley backstage after the latter’s victory, to congratulate him. “Congratulations, but you should have mentioned my name” he told ‘Suga’. The champion, however, seemingly didn’t even recognize the Georgian at first and remarked “Oh, sh**, I didn’t know who that was,” and walked away from a forlorn-looking Dvalishvili. While the Georgian may have been disappointed, his fears seem unfounded. He is almost definitely going to fight for the title next whether or not O’Malley has called him out. What do you think about O’Malley calling out Topuria?

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