Ilia Topuria has put a lot of pressure on his shoulders for the biggest fight of his career.
The undefeated 14-0 “El Matador” has already declared himself Ultimate Fighting Championship’s (UFC) Featherweight champion without yet fighting for the title. If he can dethrone the reigning undisputed titleholder, Alexander Volkanovski, at UFC 298 this weekend (Sat., Feb. 17, 2024), that dream will become reality.
Topuria, 27, hasn’t been quiet about his plans either, laying out the possible options going forward — such as Conor McGregor. In terms of cross-division fights, that one is probably the most unlikely for a myriad of reasons. The Bantamweight champion, Sean O’Malley, on the other hand, has made it very clear he hopes for a future champion vs. champion clash with Topuria. It all hinges on whether or not the Spaniard can get past “The Great.”
“I think this guy’s gonna win,” O’Malley said on his TimboSugar Show podcast. “It’s hard to go against ‘Volk,’ isn’t it? I’m just going with Ilia because I’m gonna keep manifesting that f—king Sphere September fight.
“He better hope he f—king does because he’s talking a lot of game, a lot of s—t,” he continued. “He’s got a documentary coming out, he’s got a f—king movie coming out, he’s calling out Conor McGregor. Like, dude, if he goes and loses to ‘Volk,’ he’s irrelevant. He should be thanking me for talking about him.”
For O’Malley’s hopes to come true, he’ll have to play his part by earning a successful first title defense against Marlon “Chito” Vera at UFC 299 in Miami, Florida next month (Sat., March 9, 2024).
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 298 fight card right here, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. ET (simulcast on ESPN at 8 p.m. ET), before the pay-per-view (PPV) main card start time at 10 p.m. ET (also on ESPN+).
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 298: “Volkanovski vs. Topuria” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
