Aljamain Sterling reacts after Ilia Topuria asks Sean O'Malley to get done with Merab Dvalishvili first
Following Sean O'Malley's win over Marlon Vera at UFC 299, 'Suga' took the mic to call out the newly crowned 145-pound champion, Ilia Topuria. Speaking to Joe Rogan, who asked O'Malley what he would like next, he said:
"Dana, get me a jet to Spain, baby. I'm coming for Ilia Topuria. And if he doesn't want it, nah, f**k it, I want Ilia, baby, give me Ilia. He's a scary f**king dude, he excites me, going up a weight class excites me. I'm here for whatever. If you guys want me to knock out Merab, I'll do that too, but Ilia is an exciting fight for the people."
Check out the clip here (1:25 for his comments on Ilia Topuria):
'El Matador' made note of the callout, and took to X (formerly Twitter) to issue his response. He wrote:
"Suga, congrats... Was a beautiful performance! There is a fight chasing you with Merab... Get that done first."
Check out Topuria's response here:
Interestingly, MMA outlet MMA Junkie posted a screenshot of Topuria's tweet on Instagram. This prompted a response from UFC bantamweight champion, Aljamain Sterling, who Sean O'Malley defeated to become the king at 135 pounds.
'Funk Master' took to the comments section and wrote:
"💯💯💯"
Check out Aljamain Sterling's comment here:
Sterling is known to be close friends with Merab Dvalishvili, with the two even vowing to never fight each other when Sterling reigned over the bantamweight division. 'Funk Master' has since moved up to 145 pounds and will make his featherweight debut at UFC 300 against Calvin Kattar.
Ilia Topuria shares clip of champion's welcome he received in Spain, re-affirms desire for UFC Spain
After winning the featherweight title from Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298, Topuria took to X to share a clip of the welcome he received upon his return to Spain.
'El Matador' shared the clip and in the caption, reiterated his desire to bring the UFC to Spain. He wrote:
"In Madrid there is a desire for @ufc right? May @danawhite read you."
Check out Topuria's tweet here:
With Sean O'Malley also asking for a bout against Topuria in Spain, a card in the Mediterranean country may very well come to fruition in the near future.