Topuria On Suga-Free Diet After UFC 306

Today at 14:52

Sean O'Malley was campaigning to fight Ilia Topuria — not Merab Dvalishvili — after defending his bantamweight title against Marlon Vera at UFC 299. Unfortunately for "Suga," the promotion had other plans and awarded "The Machine" the next 135-pound title shot.

Dvalishvili went on to defeat O'Malley at UFC 306 last weekend in Las Vegas.

That loss ended any talk of facing off against "El Matador," who is booked to defend his featherweight crown opposite former division titleholder, Max Holloway, atop the UFC 308 pay-per-view (PPV) card next month on "Fight Island" in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

"Some other better fight will come along," Topuria told Marca. "It's like the same with Paddy [Pimblett]. It seemed like a super attractive fight, but if you're not at the [same] level, what can I do? You get defeated even before you get into the Octagon with me. I don't even need to get in there for people to know that I'm better than you. So why fight?"

Fortunately for O'Malley, he can still compete for a title coming off his UFC 306 loss.

"I would like Sean O'Malley to do this: Take as much time as he wants off, and I believe Umar [Nurmagomedov] will beat Merab, and after that, Umar will give him a title shot coming off a loss," Nurmagomedov's manager, Ali Abdelaziz, told ESPN. "I think Sean O'Malley is one of the biggest stars in the sport. This is a business about making money, and I think Sean O'Malley deserves a title shot coming off a loss."

Nurmagomedov and Dvalishvili are expected to collide at some point in early 2025.