Sean O’Malley’s coach, Tim Welch has finally addressed the bantamweight champion’s callout of ‘El Matador’. After his victory at UFC 299, ‘Suga’ revealed that he wanted to fight the featherweight champ and take the featherweight title for himself. Needless to say, ‘El Matador’ warned O’Malley against his wishes.

But the ‘Red Hawk’ seems to believe that a fight against Ilia Topuria is something that the bantamweight champ can win. Let’s see what the former mixed martial artist had to say.

Sean O’Malley’s coach wants to go against Ilia Topuria, not Max Holloway

Tim Welch sat down together with Joe Riggs for an elaborate talk during episode #154 of the ‘Red Hawk Recap’. One of the topics that the duo addressed was the fight between Max Holloway and Topuria for the featherweight championship belt scheduled to take place at UFC 308. But no conversation about the BMF champion is complete without a mention of his performance against Gaethje at UFC 300. 

The ‘Red Haws’ was completely in awe of Holloway’s victory at UFC 300. But when Riggs asked him to choose an opponent out of Topuria and Holloway to go up against with O’Malley, Welch blurted out ‘El Matador’s name. He said, “Topuria, after seeing that [Topuria’s fight against Bryce Mitchell]. I just think it’s, people are like, ‘You f***ing idiot!’… It’s a winnable fight. I just truly do believe it is.”

Welch does not think Topuria is as much of a threat as people believe him to be. O’Malley has the height advantage, just like Max Holloway will at UFC 308. So, he thinks that both O’Malley and Holloway can exploit Topuria’s style if they can find their range and pick him apart.

Thereafter, Riggs made a comment that he would never bet against ‘Blessed’. His never-back-down attitude has turned him into a fighter who can turn the tables with just a couple of seconds left on the clock. And the ‘Red Hawk’ had no choice but to agree.

However, the next opponent for ‘Suga’, if he wins at Noche UFC, is not Holloway or Topuria, but Umar Nurmagomedov. Joe Rogan previously declared that Nurmagomedov was quite a formidable opponent to go up against, and he should be the one to fight the winner of the UFC 306 main event. Welch was of the same opinion, but he was a bit wary of the dagestani’s skills, as well. 

Tim Welch addresses the danger that Umar Nurmagomedov possesses

Being a marksman striker, the bantamweight champion is pretty vulnerable to Nurmagomedov’s grappling prowess. And Welch knows it pretty well. He declared, “Yeah, Umar Nurmagomedov is a serious problem… He’s very athletic. And he not only can [wrestle]… He’s a very good striker, too. He’s got very versatile kicks… He’s a very dangerous, dangerous fight because he can win the fight anywhere.”

However, Welch was straightforward when breaking down the Dagestani mixed martial artist’s skills. He has dug up the holes in Nurmagomedov’s style and noted the various ways O’Malley can annoy him. He didn’t drop the chances of ‘Suga’ being faster than Nurmagomedov and winning the possible fight via a KO.

But what are your thoughts on a matchup between O’Malley and Holloway? Do you think Holloway would execute a similar KO as he did against Gaethje if the duo ever faced each other? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.