Bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley puts his title on the line for the first time against Marlon “Chito” Vera in the UFC 299 main event on March 9. If O’Malley wins, and he predicts that he will, he wants to face featherweight titleholder Ilia Topuria at the Sphere on Mexican Independence Day.
Both men are newly crowned champions with contenders awaiting in their divisions. Former two-division champion Daniel Cormier doesn’t want to see them fight, or at least not yet.
“I can tell you what I don’t want to see. I don’t want to see him (Topuria) fight Sean O’Malley. I don’t need to see those guys fight just yet because neither of them have defended their championship,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel.
“I don’t know that we should continue to allow for these guys to get a belt and immediately leave the division,” Cormier continued. “That’s what happened with Islam [Makhachev] and [Alexander] Volkanovski… Islam hadn’t cleared out (the division). He has two title defenses, both against Volk. He’s a 45 pounder. He’s never defended the belt against a lightweight. But again, that fight with Volk was a credit to Volk for what he had done because he had kind of cleared out his division.
“I get it in that instance but if we’re talking to Topuria and O’Malley, these are two guys that haven’t fought anyone in that division. So, I don’t think these guys should fight each other right now. They’ve got work to do.”
https://www.mmaweekly.com/news/daniel-cormier-doesnt-want-to-see-sean-omalley-vs-ilia-topuria
