Sean O’Malley had clear star potential from the moment that he impressed Dana White with his Contender Series debut that earned him a UFC contract.
Having been the main event in his last two outings where he won the bantamweight title and defended it, “Suga” is back to headline his biggest event to date.
At UFC 306 this weekend, he will be the last man to walk out at a historic event hosted inside the Sphere for Noche UFC.
Given the demographic that O’Malley is able to connect with and his polarizing qualities, there’s no denying that he’s one of the biggest names in the sport right now.
However, a former PFL winner recently made the case for why there is another fighter on the roster that is currently the brightest active star that the promotion has.
Brendan Loughnane Says Ilia Topuria Is A Bigger Star Than Sean O’Malley Right Now
Ilia Topuria put in some incredible performances during his path to becoming featherweight champion.
After capping that off by stopping Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298, “El Matador” really cemented himself as one of the top names in the UFC right now.
What some fans may not have realized at the time is the amount of support he has in Europe from both his Spanish and Georgian fans.
This was proven in front of our very eyes when he took the belt back home to Spain and walked out, as the champion, in front of the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, the home of Real Madrid.
Looking at social media numbers alone, Topuria has a bigger following on Instagram with 4.5 million to O’Malley’s 4.3 million, despite the fact that “Suga” has been a notable name in the UFC for longer.
On a recent episode of Uncaged by talkSPORT MMA, 2022 PFL featherweight champion and 2024 finalist Brendan Loughnane made the case for why Topuria takes the top spot right now.
“Do you know what? There’s one man that we’re missing out on here that’s totally missed the conversation. Ilia Topuria, I’d put above him [O’Malley] right now, I really would. He’s walking out at the Bernabéu! Ilia Topuria has just knocked out our guy Volk who is pound-for-pound, wherever you put him, he’s in that conversation. He’s doing the same thing that Sean’s doing. I’ve never seen anyone captivate an audience quite like, well obviously bar Conor McGregor, let’s take Conor McGregor out of this, I would put Ilia above Sean O’Malley right now. Just due to the fact of the way he finished Volk.
“Sean’s got great finishes along the way, he’s obviously finished Sterling and all that but I’m talking personally. I just, this Ilia Topuria thing and the train that’s moving at the minute, again I don’t want to keep going on about this Bernabéu thing but do you know how big, well I know you know, but that is humongous and I just know what’s going on because I have the same manager as this guy. I know the type of deals he’s getting, I know the type of circles he’s moving in, he’s had less fights than Sean in the UFC I believe and I just feel like his train is moving a little bit faster at the minute, maybe I’m completely wrong.”
