“After fighting Volk I will fight Conor” - Ilia Topuria takes dig at Sean O'Malley's star power, says they'll “never” fight
UFC featherweight contender Ilia Topuria lashed out at UFC bantamweight champion Sean O'Malley after the latter commented on him.
O'Malley referred to Topuria as his 'Eddie' in a post on X, likening their dynamic to Conor McGregor and Eddie Alvarez. The then featherweight champion McGregor made the move up to lightweight challenge Alvarez for his championship at UFC 205.
Check out his post below:
Topuria hit right back by claiming that the UFC refused to let him fight O'Malley. He took a dig at O'Malley's fanbase and asserted that the two will never fight. 'El Matador' also revealed his plans to fight McGregor after his title fight against Alexander Volkanovski.
He wrote:
"I offered to fight you but the UFC told me that you are only good for fighting in teenagers' places, because that’s your only fan base .Our fight will never happen. After fighting Volk I will fight Conor. and you will come as a fan boy. After seeing your ppv numbers the only thing I can offer you is that you fight in the preliminaries of my card."
Topuria will headline UFC 298 on Feb. 17, 2024, against undisputed champion Volkanovski.
Check out his post below:
Deiveson Figueiredo warns Sean O'Malley after his move up to bantamweight
Former UFC flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo made his bantamweight debut after four straight title fights against Brandon Moreno at flyweight.
Figueiredo's debut performance against Rob Font was rated 3/10 by Sean O'Malley, to which the Brazilian responded that 'Sugar' was concerned by his threat to the division.
He also believed that a title fight in the future is a possibility but maintained that he would wait for the UFC to decide on his next fight. Speaking to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Figueiredo said:
“I think that he has something to worry about. I’m the original. And if he’s the virus, I’m the antivirus to him... I think that’s definitely a possibility. I’m a two-time former champion. My last fight at 125 [pounds against Brandon Moreno,] I had not had a good camp and now I am great. I feel that could be a possibility. However, I will patiently await what the UFC has in mind for me. I’m ready for whoever they wanna put me against. The first name to come to my mind would be Sean O’Malley, so besides him, whoever they put against me.”
Check out his full comments on Sean O'Malley below (8:25):