Bantamweight champ Sean O’Malley wants to have Ilia Topuria in the future, but the latter is not interested in this at the moment. For the featherweight title challenger, there is nothing to gain from the fight, especially since he doesn’t “Sugar” as a PPV “superstar.”
Topuria will be challenging Alexander Volkanovski for his belt at UFC 298, but other fighters already have their eyes on him. One includes O’Malley, who plans to have a match against “El Matador” when he wins the title. Despite having a match coming up against Marlon Vera at UFC 299, O’Malley is certain that he will meet Topuria in the future. The champ is very vocal about the plan, but the Spanish fighter is uninterested in taking it.
Topuria’s response is not a surprise since he already expressed the same view about it when O’Malley first proposed the idea. Aside from his plan to fight Conor McGregor next, Topuria shared that O’Malley’s pretentious PPV “superstar” status is actually one of the reasons for his decision.
“He thinks he’s a superstar, (but) he’s not at all,” Topuria told KOlmenero in an interview. “If you see his last pay-per-view numbers, he’s like – you better keep quiet. I want to grow up. I don’t want someone at my expense to grow up.”
Despite this, Topuria acknowledges O’Malley’s ability as a fighter. Yet, in the end, the 27-year-old underscored that he has a different plan.
“First of all, what he wants is what he wants. Then there’s what I want,” Topuria said. “He’s a fighter who fights good – he has a pretty visible style, good timing, good reflexes.
“He doesn’t have heavy hands, but (he hits) with precision. It’s not an easy fight, as many say. He’s the world champion, but what would I gain by facing him? Right now, it’s not in my plans to fight him.”
