Snubbing Merab Dvalishvili, Sean O’Malley Sets His Target on Double Champ Status After Ilia Topuria KO’s Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298

As has been on par for the course for the promotion since last year, UFC 298 saw some major upsets. Chief among them was Ilia Topuria knocking Alexander Volkanovski out cold with a fantastic right to become the new featherweight champion last night.

In attendance at the card was bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley, who has been involved in a feud with ‘El Matador’ online. And even as UFC CEO Dana White confirmed that Merab Dvalishvili will fight for the bantamweight crown next after his dominant win over Henry Cejudo, O’Malley has set his sights on Topuria.

Sean O’Malley seemingly wants to fight Ilia Topuria next

After Ilia Topuria’s victory, Sean O’Malley was caught on camera saying “just what I wanted,” indicating his wish to move up and challenge Topuria for the featherweight crown. If it comes to pass and O’Malley beats the Spaniard, he would become only the fifth concurrent two-division champion in UFC history.

And this has not come out of the blue, as the two have been involved in a back-and-forth on social media since 2022. Their feud started when Topuria called out O’Malley for a fight last year, but O’Malley dismissed him as below his level.

In January this year, Sean O’Malley took to X and called Topuria “my Aldo,” a reference to Conor McGregor’s 13-second win over then-featherweight champion Jose Aldo, which propelled ‘Mystic Mac’ to superstardom.

Topuria slammed the bantamweight champion’s comments and said that their fight would never happen since ‘Suga’ was not a big PPV draw and because he was looking to fight Conor McGregor next. However, O’Malley is clearly hopeful Topuria would eventually agree to facing him as his statement last night indicates. But before he can think of facing Topuria, the bantamweight champion has his title to defend next month.

O’Malley vs. ‘Chito’ Vera set for UFC 299

Sean O’Malley defeated Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292 last year to become the UFC bantamweight champion. For his first title defense at UFC 299 in March, he will face Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera, who handed ‘Suga’ the only loss in his pro MMA career.

Watch This Story: Dana White Opens Up On UFC 300 Status After Powerslap 6 

However, UFC CEO Dana White confirmed that Merab Dvalishvili, who defeated Henry Cejudo via unanimous decision in a virtual title eliminator last night, is officially next in line for the bantamweight title held by O’Malley. Not to mention that Topuria has called out Conor McGregor for a fight already and has also agreed to rematch Alexander Volkanovski in his adopted country of Spain. All of this means it is extremely unlikely fans will get an O’Malley vs. Topuria contest anytime soon.

Read More: UFC 298: Alexander Volkanovski vs. Ilia Topuria – Results, News and Updates