Sean O'Malley claims he can knock Alexander Volkanovski out, details plans for moving up a weight class
Sean O'Malley was crowned the bantamweight champion after knocking out Aljamain Sterling in the main event of UFC 292 last month. Despite his newly acquired title, 'Sugar' has already entertained the idea of challenging Alexander Volkanovski for the featherweight belt.
'The Great' has reigned supreme since defeating Max Holloway at UFC 245 in 2019 and has successfully defended the title five times.
Volkanovski, like Sean O'Malley, has aspirations of becoming a two-division champion. But he was narrowly defeated by Islam Makhachev at UFC 284 via decision in his bid to become the lightweight champion.
During episode #122 of The BrO'Malley Show, hosted by Sean O'Malley and his brother Daniel, the bantamweight champion shared his plans to achieve double-champion status:
"I'm not saying I wouldn't fight Volk, I'm just being very honest. He would be a very, very difficult fight. Do I believe I could knock him out? 100%. I believe I can knock out anybody around 135, 145 [pounds]. 155, that'd be a little tougher, I'd need to put on some [weight]. But Volk is a very difficult fight, I'm not saying I would never fight him. I'm just saying that's not what I want next. I don't know, maybe a year, maybe two years."
Watch the video below from 44:50:
Alexander Volkanovski is regarded by many as the greatest featherweight of all time, and O'Malley will need to produce a performance akin to his KO win over Aljamain Sterling last month in order to have a chance of defeating 'The Great'.
Sean O'Malley claims he knows who he will face next
Sean O'Malley won the bantamweight title in stunning fashion against Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292.
Given the dominance that 'Funk Master' displayed during his title reign, there was a certain expectation that he may be granted an immediate rematch by the UFC. But the promotion's president, Dana White, is yet to indicate that Sterling will receive a rematch.
Sean O'Malley's only defeat in MMA came against Marlon Vera at UFC 252 in 2020, and both 'Sugar' and 'Chito' have called one another out since O'Malley's win.
The bantamweight champion recently indicated that the UFC have told him who he will be facing next. 'Sugar' said during the aforementioned episode of The BrO'Malley Show:
"I have a pretty clear idea of what's next but nothing's official, there's moving parts. I'm fighting *beep*... It's not official, that's what I think is next. And that's what I want." [15:08-15:37]