Dana White has said that the chances of Ilia Topuria fighting Sean O’Malley next is “crazy talk” as divisional kings tee up a future showdown.
Sean O’Malley defended his bantamweight title against bitter rival Marlon Vera last night at UFC 299 in Miami, putting on his most impressive performance to date on route to a unanimous decision victory.
In the aftermath, both O’Malley and Ilia Topuria teased a potential super-fight for the featherweight strap before Dana White shut down the idea as “crazy talk” given their lack of title defenses.
Dana White on ‘crazy talk’ surrounding Topuria vs O’Malley
Whilst next up for O’Malley will be Merab Dvalishvili, ‘Suga’ is already eyeing a potential legacy-defining super-fight against the new featherweight king, Ilia Topuria.
It used to be the case that UFC champions got the opportunity to move up and challenge for a second belt only after they’d first cleaned out their division, but we’re seeing more and more talk about almost-instantaneous shots at champ-champ status.
O’Malley has been vocal about wanting the chance to win a second world title at 145lbs for some time, but it appears that Dana White is starting to push back on the idea of new champions getting that opportunity.
Speaking at the post-fight press conference, Dana White celebrated the ‘clinic’ that O’Malley put on Vera and even went as far as to claim that their UFC 299 main event was the biggest fight in the division’s history:
“Biggest bantamweight fight of all time, based off energy, excitement, gate, and PPV, it’s by far the biggest fight ever in the bantamweight division…He’s the biggest star ever in bantamweight history.”
When asked what he thought about O’Malley moving up to fight Ilia Topuria at 145lbs, White acknowledged that those opportunities are rarely given to those without multiple title defenses:
“I don’t know about moving divisions, you know how I feel about that. I mean even Topuria was talking about not fighting anybody in the division after just winning the title, that’s crazy talk.”
In the aftermath of O’Malley’s dominant decision win over Vera, Ilia Topuria took to social media to congratulate ‘Suga’ and to sow the seeds of a potential super-fight later down the line.
“Suga, congrats…Was a beautiful performance! There is a fight chasing you with Merab…Get that done first,” wrote 2024’s biggest breakout star online.
The flashy American also called his shot at the post-fight press conference, asking White to put him on a private plane to Spain so that he could face Topuria in his own backyard.
“Dana give 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, give me Ilia…If you guys want me to knockout Merab I’ll do that too, but Ilia is an exciting fight for the people.”
