Sean O’Malley had no intention of ever fighting Alex Volkanovski.
Well, it turns out “Suga” wants nothing to do with undefeated featherweight champion Ilia Topuria, either, despite calling for “El Matador” in the wake of Topuria’s stunning knockout victory over “The Great” at UFC 298 last weekend in Anaheim.
Turns out there was too much “pushback” from fickle fight fans sticking up for bantamweight contender Merab Dvalishvili, who punched his ticket to a 135-pound title shot by steamrolling former two-division kingpin Henry Cejudo, also at UFC 298.
“I wanted the Ilia fight, it excites me, but I also thought the fans would get excited about it,” O’Malley said on YouTube. “I got a lot of pushback, saying ‘you’re ducking Merab, Merab is next.’ So, Merab’s next. Let’s do Merab. I’m telling you guys, I knock Merab out. Obviously I gotta get through ‘Chito,’ but I’m telling you guys, when I fight Merab I’m knocking that dude out. He’s sloppy. I’m accurate. I’m too fast. I’m too sharp. I put Merab’s lights out — worse than Aljo.”
O’Malley is set to defend his bantamweight title against longtime nemesis Marlon Vera atop the upcoming UFC 299 pay-per-view (PPV) card next month in Miami. “Suga” was defeated by “Chito” when they first went to war at UFC 252 back in late 2020.
In the nearly four years since that fight took place, “Suga” is 5-0 (1 NC), which includes his knockout victory over Aljamain Sterling — training partner of Dvalishvili — at UFC 292 last Aug. in Boston. Vera, two years older at 31, is 5-2 during that same span.
For the rest of the UFC 299 fight card and PPV lineup click here.
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
