Despite Sean O’Malley’s $14M Feat, Dana White Refuses to Give In to “Ilia Topuria” Demands From BW Champ at UFC 299

What a performance by the defending champion! Sean O’Malley successfully defended his bantamweight title against Marlon Vera and with it, ‘Suga’ has finally avenged his lone defeat. O’Malley came into the octagon with ‘Chito’s chants, however, he silenced the crowd with his performance. With a successful title defense, O’Malley now wants one fight: Ilia Topuria.

The five-round fight was brutal and O’Malley was the star of it. ‘Suga’ had to redeem himself after his past defeats and he certainly did and that too with style. After the win, O’Malley took the mic and called out Dana White to schedule a match for him against the featherweight champion, Ilia Topuria, and well the UFc CEO has responded.

Dana White seems a bit reluctant about Sean O’Malley vs. Ilia Topuria

Ilia Topuria clinched the UFC’s featherweight title by knocking out Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298. This marked the rise of a new champion in the featherweight division since 2021. Before their upcoming fight, Topuria and O’Malley engaged in banter with each other on social media. The banter soon turned into a potential fight as both called each other out on certain occasions.

O’Malley has successfully defended his title now and the first thing he demanded was Ilia Topuria. At the post-fight octagon interview, ‘Suga’ said “Dana, give me a jet to Spain baby, I’m coming for Ilia Topuria.” He said. “. . . I want Ilia baby, give me Ilia.”

Despite, O’Malley’s superior performance, Dana White seems a bit unsure about O’Malley’s request. At the post-fight interview, White said “It’s not Tuesday yet. I don’t know about moving divisions. You know how I feel about that. Even Topuria is not talking about fighting anybody in the division after just winning the title. That’s crazy talk.” 

Dana White seems to be wanting to keep O’Malley in the bantamweight division for some time. Interestingly, Merab Dvalishvili was frustrated when O’Malley called out Topuria but seems like the defending champ is in no mood to listen to the Georgian.

Merab Dvalishvili unhappy about Sean O’Malley calling out Ilia Topuria

Merab Dvalishvili is the number-one contender for the bantamweight title. Riding a 10-fight winning streak, Dvalishvili is next in the line for the ‘135’ lbs gold. However, despite this Sean O’Malley is in no mood to give Dvalishvili a chance so soon. When ‘Suga’ called out Topuria inside the octagon, Dvalishvili was frustrated and said “I’m so pi**ed, he didn’t call me out. Come on bro, I’m number one contender fight me,”

When asked about the Dvalishvili fight, ‘Suga’ said “I didn’t he got hit in the head. I was like who the f*ck and then I realized it was Merab. Then, I realized that fight could very well happen next.” 

If Dana White does not throw Ilia Topuria at Sean O’Malley then Merab Dvalishvili is the fight that is happening in the bantamweight division. Who do you think would win in a clash between O’Malley and Dvalishvili?

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