Sean O’Malley was happy to reignite his rivalry with Ilia Topuria.
UFC Bantamweight Champion Sean O’Malley isn’t thrilled about the latest update to the promotion’s pound-for-pound rankings.
Sean O’Malley Questions Ilia Topuria’s P4P Ranking
Last weekend’s UFC 303 saw Alex Pereira defend his light heavyweight belt for the second time when he knocked out Jiří Procházka early in the second frame of their rematch, and in the aftermath of that performance “Poatan” was bumped up to the #2 spot on the UFC’s P4P list behind Islam Makhachev.
Pereira’s new ranking didn’t do anything to move O’Malley from the #6 spot, but “Suga” did take the opportunity to question why UFC Featherweight Champion Ilia Topuria is still ranked above him at #5 after the list was updated.
O’Malley claimed the UFC bantamweight title at UFC 292 when he knocked out longtime titleholder Aljamain Sterling before he defended the belt in a rematch with Marlon “Chito” Vera at UFC 299, while Topuria claimed UFC gold and extended his unbeaten record to 15-0 with a second-round knockout over Alexander Volkanovski last February.
Topuria Fires Back at O’Malley
“El Matador” and O’Malley have exchanged plenty of trash talk on previous occasions, and it didn’t take long for Topuria to respond to his rival’s comments regarding their respective places on the UFC P4P list.
Many fans are hopeful that the two men might share the Octagon at some point down the line, but for now it appears they each have a title defense lined up with O’Malley expected to meet #1-ranked bantamweight contender Merab Dvalishvili and Topuria calling for the UFC to finally book a showdown with “BMF” titleholder and former featherweight king Max Holloway later this year.