Sean O’Malley wants to be a two-time champion and his next target is Ilia Topuria. The Irish-American will defend his bantamweight belt for the first time on March 9 in a rematch with the Ecuadorian Chito Faith. Then there is Hispano-Georgian in sight. And he wanted to get involved in the fight for the featherweight championship with Alexander Volkanovski. “If anyone can beat Volkanovski, it’s Topuria,” he admitted in an interview with ESPN.

The featherweight title fight between Alexander Volkanovski and Ilia Topuria is one of the most anticipated this year and many fighters wanted to give their opinion. While Josh Emmett refused to interfere, O’Malley made his opinion very clear.

“I don’t know if he can beat Volkanovski, he’s the best pound-for-pound in the division right now. I think it is connected with Islam (Makhachev). But if anyone can beat Volk, it’s Ilia. It has legitimate conditions, it is a attacker scary, okay grappler. Mentally it’s as good as it gets. I think it would be a great fight. Ilia is a bit slow, but he knows how to fight, said the American. The fight will be on February 17 in Los Angeles, the event before his.

Topuria and O’Malley exchanged words a few days ago on the social network X. There has already been talk of a possible clash between the two and, although the Latin American no longer wants to step into the cage with the bantamweight champion, he believes it is “the next step.” . “If Ilia goes out and beats Volk, I also go out and win Chito, That’s the next fight. Me against Ilia in Las Vegas. The biggest billboard of the year. “I will beat him,” predicted the American.

You will have to defeat them first Chito Faith. “We are still 8 weeks away from the weigh-in. “I feel good, I’m in a perfect position at the moment and I can’t wait to put this fist in his face,” he said. The Ecuadorian is the only fighter who managed to defeat him, so he has been eyeing him for a long time. In August 2020, he won by TKO in the first round after O’Malley sprained his ankle with a feint and has been looking for revenge ever since.

“I always had the feeling that we would fight again. I have said this in many interviews. When I’m champion, if he wins the title, then we’ll have our revenge. Did he deserve it with his poor performance against Pedro Munhoz? Not really. But I want to get my hands on it and be done with it. With a great finish, I’m defending for the first time in Miami,” explained Sean.

This summer, he became the champion by knocking out Aljamain Sterling in the second round. On the same card, Marlon won a unanimous decision against the Brazilian. “I felt like a big star in every fight. I’ve been to 10 PPVs or more and I always feel that way. I may not have been the star of the event, but I was the biggest attraction. This time it seems bigger. It’s like my first PPV. In the previous one, Aljo (Aljamain Sterling) was the champion”, commented the American. (D)