Sean O’Malley believes Umar Nurmagomedov is ‘superstar’ material. The UFC Bantamweight Champion is less than a week away from his first title defense against Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera. The American will be headlining the UFC 299 event in Miami next weekend. Ahead of his fight, he sat down with ESPN MMA‘s Brett Okamoto and spoke about his fight. He also spoke about Khabib Nurmagomedov’s causing Umar.
Okamoto asked him whether he could possibly fight Umar Nurmagomedov in the future, who is fresh off a win over Bekzat Almakhan. Sean O’Malley is one of the only fighters who seems to want to fight the Dagestani. Here’s what he had to say about him:
“I believe Umar is a potential superstar. Literally because he has the last name Nurmagomedov……There’s something there, if he can become a star that’s the fight I want.”
Sean O’Malley went on to say that he does not want the ‘easy’ fights. He wants to challenge himself against the best in the division and even in the organization. However, he also wants to fight people who are on the same level as him stardom-wise. That’s the only way he will be able to etch his legacy into the history books.
One fighter who he has his eyes on is Ilia Topuria. O’Malley thinks he is the biggest fight for the Spaniard.
Sean O’Malley believes he is the biggest fight for Ilia Topuria after becoming champion
Sean O’Malley is showing an interest in moving up to featherweight. The UFC Bantamweight Champion has his eyes on Ilia Topuria.
The Spaniard put the MMA world on alert after beating Alexander Volkanovski. In a recent YouTube video with Jeff Witek, O’Malley revealed why he is the biggest fight for Topuria:
“I’m a tough fight for (Ilia). I’m the biggest fight for him, but he’s like ‘no I’m not fighting Sean’. He should be wanting that fight, unless he knows it’s a bad fight for him.”
Jeff Witek then asked whether being double champ was next for him. Sean O’Malley nodded his head in agreement. However, he will first have to deal with the challengers in his own division. His next fight against Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera is to avenge his loss against him. He will look to put up a statement win over Vera and solidify his title reign.
With Aljamain Sterling out of the division, O’Malley will have to prove himself against the top contenders in the division.
