{"id":2918,"date":"2024-02-20T17:37:14","date_gmt":"2024-02-20T16:37:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/?p=2918"},"modified":"2024-02-21T17:45:56","modified_gmt":"2024-02-21T16:45:56","slug":"sean-omalley-names-the-opponent-who-scares-him-in-the-ufc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/sean-omalley-names-the-opponent-who-scares-him-in-the-ufc\/","title":{"rendered":"Sean O\u2019Malley names the opponent who scares him in the UFC"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">UFC bantamweight champion Sean O\u2019Malley already sees himself in the future and expresses his wish to face 3 fighters.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Sean O\u2019Malley feels capable of beating any opponent. The bantamweight champion (-61kg) wants to prove it during his clash with Marlon Vera, in the main event of UFC 299 in Miami. \u2018Chito\u2019 is the only one to have defeated \u2018Sugar\u2019 in his entire MMA career. Suffice to say that the champion will prepare intensively to take his revenge.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cHe knocked out the featherweight GOAT in Round 2. I knocked out Aljo (Sterling), the bantamweight GOAT, in Round 2,\u201d O\u2019Malley said of Topuria on \u201cThe MMA Hour.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\"  id=\"_ytid_52347\"  width=\"696\" height=\"391\"  data-origwidth=\"696\" data-origheight=\"391\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jzn3JYTepd0?enablejsapi=1&#038;autoplay=0&#038;cc_load_policy=0&#038;cc_lang_pref=&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;loop=0&#038;modestbranding=0&#038;rel=1&#038;fs=1&#038;playsinline=0&#038;autohide=2&#038;theme=dark&#038;color=red&#038;controls=1&#038;\" class=\"__youtube_prefs__  epyt-is-override  no-lazyload\" title=\"YouTube player\"  allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen data-no-lazy=\"1\" data-skipgform_ajax_framebjll=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cI\u2019ve kind of pushed that fight a little bit. I\u2019ve been getting a lot of hate for it, a little pushback saying that I\u2019m ducking Merab. I\u2019m like, Merab just barely \u2013 not barely, he whooped Henry, but Henry is like 42 or something. He looked horrible. I would\u2019ve knocked Henry out four times that fight. And then Ilia goes out there and knocks out Volk, the greatest featherweight of all time in Round 2 in a beautiful performance.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Despite his loss at UFC 252, O\u2019Malley is not afraid of Marlon Vera! During his appearance on The MMA Hour, he explained to Ariel Helwani which fighter scared him more or less: \u201cWhen I think of a scary opponent, of what makes me shiver, it\u2019s Ilia Topuria. \u00bb He declares \u201cI like big fights. What do people really want to see? It can turn you off, it can change your life. It&#8217;s frightening. \u00bb<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It is clear that the performance of the new undefeated featherweight champion, Ilia Topuria, confirms O\u2019Malley\u2019s words. The Spaniard knocked out Alexander Volkanovski in the second round during the main event of UFC 298.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Who are Sean O\u2019Malley\u2019s targets?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Sean O\u2019Malley adopts a champion attitude and does not shy away. Moreover, when obtaining his belt at UFC 292, by knocking out Sterling, he immediately requested a rematch against the only fighter who beat him. He aspires to restore his honor, a most respectable step. \u2018Sugar\u2019 also shared her future goals once again during her appearance on The MMA Hour. He clearly expresses his desire to participate in fierce fights in the cage: \u201cThere is Merab, there is Cory, there is Ilia. These are three potential adversaries. \u00bb<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">By beating Merab Dvalishvili and Cory Sandhagen, he would clear the top 5 in his category. This could legitimize a fight against Ilia Topuria to obtain two belts and end the Spaniard&#8217;s invincibility. First and foremost, Sean O\u2019Malley must take on the challenge of \u2018Chito\u2019 in the main event of UFC 299, scheduled for March 9.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>UFC bantamweight champion Sean O\u2019Malley already sees himself in the future and expresses his wish to face 3 fighters. Sean O\u2019Malley feels capable of beating any opponent. The bantamweight champion (-61kg) wants to prove it during his clash with Marlon Vera, in the main event of UFC 299 in Miami. \u2018Chito\u2019 is the only one [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2919,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,47],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2918","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ufc-news","8":"category-video"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2918"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2918"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2918\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2921,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2918\/revisions\/2921"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}