Sean O'Malley puts Ilia Topuria at the top of P4P rankings, favors him over Charles Oliveira
Former UFC bantamweight kingpin Sean O'Malley thinks Ilia Topuria and P4P king Islam Makhachev are on the same level when it comes to pound-for-pound rankings.
O'Malley also gave his prediction on the upcoming UFC 317 clash between Charles Oliveira and 'El Matador' for the vacant lightweight championship. In a recent interview with Full Send MMA, 'Suga' opined that Topuria and Makhachev "are tied as number one pound-for-pound" fighters.
O'Malley wanted to witness Makhachev vs. Topuria, until the Russian fighter decided to vacate his 155-pound strap in pursuit of welterweight gold. O'Malley said:
"I wanted to see Topuria vs. Islam. Those are the two number-one pound-for-pound guys in the world. In my opinion, Topuria, Islam both tied at number one. Obviously, Jon Jones is up there, too, but that was the fight to make, but they wanted to move up."
When asked about who he thinks will be the new lightweight champion at UFC 317, O'Malley added:
"Ilia vs. Charles —heart says Charles, my brain says Ilia, but you can't count either of those guys out."
Check out Sean O'Malley's comments below:
Meanwhile, O'Malley will be back in action next week at UFC 316, when he faces champion Merab Dvalishvili in a rematch.
Sean O'Malley wants Conor McGregor to return to UFC
Ahead of Sean O'Malley's octagon return, the latter had a sit-down with Israel Adesanya. During the conversation, 'Suga' said that he wants Conor McGregor to return to the octagon and knock someone out.
"I've taken so much f**king inspiration from Conor. Watching his career play out and just the confidence he had to say what he was going to go out there and do, and go out there and do it. I want to see old Conor come back and knock somebody out more than anybody."
Check out Sean O'Malley's comments below:
McGregor's UFC return is in limbo with UFC CEO Dana White most recently stating that the Irishman isn't fighting anytime soon. Meanwhile, Michael Chandler recently posted on X, teasing an early 2026 date and calling out McGregor.
'Iron' and McGregor were booked to headline UFC 303 in 2024, but the fight never happened as 'The Notorious' withdrew because of a toe injury.