Ilia Topuria and Sean O’Malley have been having a war of words with each other in recent times and seems like both of these individuals are looking to fight each other. The bantamweight champion of the world seems to be enraged by the way Topuria is looking at O’Malley as an undeserving candidate for a fight. However, O’Malley appears to be considering a move to the featherweight division for the potential bout.

O’Malley defeated Aljamain Sterling in UFC 292. ‘Suga’ required only two rounds to finish Sterling like Conor McGregor‘s way. Many credited O’Malley with the win except ‘El Matador’ Ilia Topuria and approximately a year after the victory their rivalry got intense. Let’s dive in further.

Sean O’Malley at the ‘145’ lbs division?

When O’Malley won his fight against Sterling, Ilia Topuria took to X (Formerly Twitter) to add a comment that indicated that ‘Suga’s victory against ‘Aljo’ was not as impressive as everyone thought it to be. He tweeted “I see this fight as too easy of a challenge, I would like to find convincing reasons to face you, but at the moment, I can’t seem to find anything that captures my atención. Keep rising and let’s see if someday you deserve my time.”

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – MARCH 07: Sean O’Malley prepares to fight Jose Quinonez during the UFC 248 event at T-Mobile Arena on March 07, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)There was a profound silence between them for a considerable time. Yet, recently, these two fighters have engaged in a flurry of exchanges against each other. O’Malley hinted that he might face Ilia Topuria sooner or later. ‘Suga’ stated that Topuria would be his Eddie Alvarez referencing Conor McGregor’s dual weight championship status. Topuria responded by stating that Suga is not a bigger star than him and that a fight with him is worthless.

O’Malley previously stated that once Ilia Topuria gets the featherweight belt by winning against Alexander Volkanovski then there is a possibility that they would fight. So logically going by the banter there’s a high possibility that their fight may happen in the future but at what weight class we don’t know yet. Additionally, Alexander Volkanovski has lauded O’Malley’s clever stance in handling Ilia Topuria’s callout.

Watch This Story: TW Watch: Sean Strickland Threatens To Stab Dricus Du Plessis if UFC Star Brings Up His Abusive Father in Trash Talk

Alexander Volkanovski appreciates O’Malley’s tough stance

Topur͏ia exudes ͏great confidence as he approaches his first UFC title shot. In a recent conversation with Micha͏el Bis͏ping, Volkanovski was asked to share his thoughts on ͏O’Malley’s plan to compete for the featherweight title should emerge “El Matador” as the ch͏ampion.

Taking O’Malley’s side, Volkanovski said “He knows there’s a bit of history with Topuria ‘cause of their talk, and he’s just being smart,” Volkanovski said on Bisping’s YouTube channel. “He’s probably backing me. But at the same time, he’s clever. He’s gonna have a safe net. ‘Look, this is a good option for me to get double-champ.”

He further explained “With me, he probably doesn’t feel as comfortable. I’m sure he backs himself, we all back ourselves…Topuria, maybe he sees ‘He’s gonna try and stand with me.’ Maybe [he’s] seeing things that I feel I’m seeing as well with Topuria, and that’s why he’s comfortable with the matchup.” 

A ͏potential showdown between O’Malley and Topuria could be a blockbuster ͏event for the UFC, especially if Topuria secures the feat͏herweight belt. ͏However, the re͏alization͏ of this matchup hinges͏ on whether “Sugar” can redeem his only loss in a ͏highly anticipated rematch against Marlon “Chito” Vera at UFC 299.͏

Read More: UFC Rumors: Israel Adesanya, Alex Pereira, and More: Team Khabib Lays Bare Unthinkable Plan for “Fantasy” Return to UFC