Sean O'Malley: Ilia Topuria will bounce back after Gaethje loss

Sean O'Malley believes Ilia Topuria will return to form after suffering his first career defeat to Justin Gaethje at UFC White House.

Topuria lost his lightweight title when he could not continue after the fourth round of his June 14 main event clash with interim champion Gaethje. The stoppage marked a stunning upset and left the previously unbeaten featherweight kingpin with significant facial damage that could keep him out for the rest of 2026.

O'Malley expects Topuria to learn from first defeat

Despite their past rivalry, O'Malley told One Night with Steiny that he expects Topuria to use the setback as fuel. "I'm sure it is going to be humbling," O'Malley said, per MMA Fighting. "I think Ilia is going to come back better than ever. He's young still. He was going through some personal stuff, made it out the other side of it but it's probably still lingering around."

O'Malley's coach Tim Welch suggested the loss could strip away the aura Topuria carried into fights, giving future opponents more confidence. O'Malley drew a comparison to his own title-winning knockout of Aljamain Sterling, which he described as a similar upset to Gaethje dethroning Topuria.

O'Malley defeated Aiemann Zahabi by second-round knockout on the same UFC White House card and could now challenge Petr Yan for a second bantamweight title run.

Reported via:

• MMA Fighting — Morning Report | Sean O’Malley: Ilia Topuria will be ‘back better than ever’ after being ‘humbled’ by Justin Gaethje