Former UFC bantamweight champion Sean O'Malley watched on this past weekend as Ilia Topuria, a man whom he's discussed fighting down the line, continued his violent undefeated run.
Topuria returned to headline Saturday's UFC 308 pay-per-view eight months on from his featherweight title crowning in Anaheim. After getting the better of one divisional legend in Alexander Volkanovski, "El Matador" repeated the feat in Abu Dhabi.
This time, it was fan favorite Max Holloway on the receiving end of a violent ending. "Blessed," who holds the symbolic BMF title, was knocked out for the first time in his career after being caught with a vicious left hook in round three.
During a video recently uploaded to his YouTube channel, O'Malley reacted to the main event at Etihad Arena, which saw Topuria further enhance his legacy on mixed martial arts' biggest stage.
God, Ilia's a f*cking finisher, huh? He'll jump on you," O'Malley said. "Ilia's so dangerous until the last bell. ... Ilia landed a beautiful left hook. ... This is exciting times. Great time to be alive. great time to be a UFC fan.
Ilia just hurt Max bad...Ilia lands a bomb. Max is still stunned. Oh! Left hook! Ilia finishes Max Holloway with a left hook in round three. Holy sh*t, Ilia is that guy," O'Malley continued. "Who at 145 wants to fight Ilia right now? Ilia's just so dangerous the whole fight. He's a like a little f*cking Alex Pereira. You can't tell me Islam (Makhachev) vs. f*cking Ilia isn't a fight you'd want to see.
Talk of a super fight involving Topuria previously centered around O'Malley looking to move up to 145 pounds to challenge "El Matador." But while that might have been on the menu should he have turned away Merab Dvalishvili's challenge, O'Malley was unseated from the bantamweight throne inside the Sphere last month.
With that, it appears Topuria is entertaining thoughts of a champ-champ pursuit himself, having gone back and forth with lightweight kingpin Islam Makhachev in recent times.
For now, though, the Spaniard will seemingly need to further cement his grip on the crown at 145 pounds by adding a second win over Volkanovski to his UFC résumé.