Sean O'Malley has come a long way since securing his UFC contract through Dana White's Contender Series in 2017 to headlining the most expensive card in the promotion's history.
"Suga" will defend his UFC bantamweight championship for the second time against Merab Dvalishvili at Riyadh Season Noche UFC on September 14, 2024. If he walks out with another impressive win, the kingpin might move up weight classes and fight the winner of Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway.
As per O'Malley's coach, Topuria is a more winnable fight than Holloway, and here's why...
Tim Welch Explains How Ilia Topuria's Rigid Boxing Stance Could Be A Problem Against Sean O'Malley
Tim Welch recently discussed how Topuria and Holloway can beat each other at UFC 308 on his YouTube channel. Although O'Malley's coach appreciated the UFC featherweight kingpin's ability to close distance and counter punch, he highlighted a couple of problems in his stance.
As per Welch, Topuria doesn't move a lot and because he's significantly shorter than Holloway, the latter might emerge victorious after picking his range.
I watched Topuria vs. Bryce Mitchell again, and he's so f*****g good, his shoulders are so high he's so good at coming close. If you throw a punch and you're not bringing it back to your face, he's so good at counter punching. But there is f****g. I mean, he's pretty flat-footed, and he's pretty stationary. And he is not the tallest guy. I would be 0% surprised if Max Holloway came out, found his range, got started first, made Topuria miss a lot, and Max got it done.
"Red Hawk" used Topuria's fight against Bryce Mitchell as an example. "Thug Nasty" is mostly known for his grappling, and the current UFC featherweight champion could be seen throwing but missing several powerful punches against him.
When asked who is a better matchup for O'Malley, here's what Welch had to say:
Topuria, after seeing that. I just think it's a, people are like you f*****g idiot. I'm like, it's a winnable fight. I just truly do believe it is.