Sean O’Malley recently took his unanimous decision victory over Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera to complete his redemption over him. However, is he dodging his next best opponent for a title fight? Merab Dvalishvili has proven time and time again that he’s worthy of a shot at UFC gold.

However, the man ‘Suga’ wants to fight next is none other than the featherweight champion of the world, Ilia Topuria. It’s exactly because of that call-out that former champion Aljamain Sterling is asking O’Malley to do what’s best fitting for a champion.

Aljamain Sterling wants Sean O’Malley to stay in the division

Having two belts in the UFC is a matter of great ambition. It’s natural for any fighter the stature of Sean O’Malley to want to become a double divisional champ. However, according to Aljamain Sterling, the champion’s callout to Topuria is merely a form of dodging ‘The Machine’.

““Lolz” yes, true men handicap their opponents and then pat their chest. What a bada*s! As I said, good win. Now be a man for once, stop deflecting, and fight the next best guy. Merab.” He said in a recent X post. Is O’Malley really deflecting this fight?

O’Malley’s decision of calling out Topuria makes sense for someone as ambitious as he is. However, Sterling’s point also stands true since this was the first and only time he defended his title. And he isn’t the only one who thinks this way.

The featherweight champ himself shares this idea with Sterling. Topuria soon took to X after O’Malley’s win and call-out to address the situation with UFC Spain. The featherweight champ gave ‘Suga’ his dues but told him to do some more defending first before getting to him.

Ilia Topuria responds to O’Malley

Ilia Topuria became a sensation for the Spanish people once he knocked out the long reigning featherweight champion, Alexander Volkanovski. With O’Malley’s callout, an exciting fight can be seen building up but Topuria won’t have it so fast.

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“Suga, congrats.. Was a beautiful performance! There is a fight chasing you with Merab.. Get that done first .” He tweeted soon after UFC 299. Clearly, everyone wants Merab Dvalishvili to have a fight with O’Malley except for O’Malley.

Perhaps the UFC will make it happen anyways since a better matchup awaits Ilia Topuria in the form of a rematch with ‘The Great’. But will ‘Suga’ ever fulfill his dream of being a double champ? Let us know your take in the comments.

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