O’Malley Eyes Win Over Umar Nurmagomedov To Get At Khabib

Sean O’Malley hopes to beat Umar Nurmagomedov in an upcoming fight, which would give him one over Khabib Nurmagomedov.

O’Malley makes the second defense of his UFC Bantamweight Title against Merab Dvalishvili on September 14 at The Sphere is Las Vegas. It is a massive event since The Sphere will hold the first combat sports event from the arena during Mexican Independence Weekend. It will also go up against Canelo Alvarez vs. Edgar Berlanga, putting the pressure on O’Malley to perform.

Merab has ten wins on the spin, making him one of the most dangerous fighters. Khabib has developed a reputation as one of the best trainers out there. He has helped Islam Makhachev become one of the best P4P fighters out there. This was shown when Khabib was in Islam’s corner for his last fight against Dustin Poirier at UFC 302. Islam defeated Poirier via a fifth-round submission to retain his title. O’Malley hopes to get one over Sean. 

O’Malley’s Aims

“I never really thought about it but just kind of off the top of my head right now if I think about it, that would be cool. Khabib’s a legend, 29-0 and very disciplined, serious guy which would make it even more fun. It’d be hard to top that, like I guess beating Ilia or Max after that, like there’s guys you could top that with but it’d be hard to get too excited for. I don’t know, I’m thinking out loud right now. It would be cool,” O’Malley said

Nevertheless, Umar is no pushover. He is undefeated with a 6-0 record. He defeated Cory Sandhagen in his last fight via a unanimous decision. Umar will likely face O’Malley next if Suga defeats Merab. O’Malley is seen as the favorite based on the current build up. Merab shared some footage of himself being cut, which drew mass criticism. O’Malley reacted to the news, telling Umar to step in after fears that Merab could pull out. Meanwhile, Dana White hit out at Merab, stating that it made no sense to share his struggles. 

White Reacts

“The whole world knows about Merab’s cut, he posted it, our guys are so dumb it’s next level unbelievable. All the stuff that I talk about boxing what I will give boxing is when something happens in a camp, let me tell you what, it does not leak. Our guys’ camp….wait to throw it up on social media. It’s a small cut, it’s not a big deal but obviously needed to be posted.

“Suga is regarded as one of the most accurate strikers currently fighting in the UFC and this will likely give him even more confidence heading into their main event and will give him a target to directly aim for. “And why the…would you want (O’Malley) to know that. It is next-level stupid, some of these guys are so stupid it’s mind-boggling, it’s unbelievable,” White stated 

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