Sean O’Malley has just climbed to the Bantamweight throne and is already planning for a double champ status.
I would love to move up to 145: Sean O’Malley
Last Saturday night, “Sugar” stole the show after defeating Aljamain Sterling via second-round TKO to become the new 135-pound champion in the main event of UFC 292 in Boston.
One of the fan-favourites in the current UFC roster, many had already seen it coming- O’Malley having UFC gold around his waist. However, the question right now arises- who’s next?
While he has shut down the idea of an immediate rematch with Sterling, O’Malley has many different routes to take, and one of those routes, as the champ himself outlines, is making a jump to 145 and going after the champ-champ status like Conor McGregor.
“I remember sitting there vividly doing an interview telling people I will be bigger than Conor McGregor,” said O’Malley in a recent interview with ESPN MMA. “I got a lot of crap for it. There was definitely a lot of hate online saying, like, ‘Come on, man, that’s not realistic.’ But in my mind it was. I just knew I had to do the things that I’ve been doing, which is knocking people out, putting on beautiful performances, and I would get there.”
“I think there’s a couple ways of (reaching McGregor status),” he went on, “defending the belt obviously is one way. Putting a beautiful knockout on for my first title defense would do that. Moving up a weight class, but I’m not trying to fight (featherweight champ) Alexander Volkanovski. Hopefully he’s fighting Ilia Topuria. If Ilia goes out there and beats Volk, I would love to move up to 145 and fight Ilia. If Gervonta Davis – you know he’s (5-foot-3), that’s a fight that interests me.” [H/T BJPenn.com]
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