Ilia Topuria and Dana White weren’t overly interested in Sean O’Malley’s recent callout for a featherweight title shot.
At UFC 299, O’Malley defended his bantamweight title for the first time with a one-sided unanimous decision win against Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera. ‘Sugar’ also killed two birds with one stone by retaining his throne and avenging his lone professional MMA loss.
Shortly after getting his hand raised, O’Malley conducted his post-fight interview in the Octagon with the legendary Joe Rogan and called out Topuria to potentially become a two-division king. The UFC featherweight champion responded to O’Malley’s callout with the following message on Twitter:
“Suga, congrats.. Was a beautiful performance! There is a fight chasing you with Merab.. Get that done first .”
Suga, congrats.. Was a beautiful performance! There is a fight chasing you with Merab.. Get that done first .
— Ilia Topuria (@Topuriailia) March 10, 2024
On February 17, Ilia Topuria began a new chapter in the UFC featherweight division when he dethroned Alexander Volkanovski by second-round knockout. ‘El Matador’ called for an opportunity to become a two-division champion, but he will likely defend his 145-pound throne in his next Octagon appearance.
Watch O’Malley’s post-fight interview at UFC 299 below:
Dana White reacts to Sean O’Malley calling out Ilia Topuria
There’s a new trend in the UFC of champions calling for an opportunity to move up a weight class and face a fellow champion, which has received mixed reviews. When it comes to Dana White, he’s not overly enthusiastic about title-holders attempting to secure more gold without defending their throne several times.
During the UFC 299 post-fight press conference, White had this to say about Sean O’Malley calling out Ilia Topuria:
“I don’t know about moving divisions. You know how I feel about that. Even Topuria was talking about not fighting anybody in the division after just winning the title. That’s crazy talk.”
Instead of Ilia Topuria, Sean O’Malley’s next fight is expected to be against number one-ranked bantamweight Merab Dvalishvili, who was sitting ringside at UFC 299. The Georgian is riding a ten-fight win streak, including an impressive unanimous decision win against Henry Cejudo in February.
Watch White react to O’Malley calling out Topuria below:
"He's the biggest star ever in bantamweight history."
Dana White praises Sean O'Malley after his #UFC299 title defense, but doesn't love his callout of Ilia Topuria. pic.twitter.com/TYdWCrO1na
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) March 10, 2024
