Suga Sean O'Malley: What's next?
By Ryan Mullen
O’Malley is one of the UFC’s biggest stars (Image: Getty Images)
“Suga” Sean O’Malley wowed the electrifying Miami crowd of UFC 299 with a masterclass performance of striking against Marlon “Chito” Vera.
Vera held O’Malley’s sole professional loss and called for a title shot when O’Malley gained the belt. But the “Suga Show” continued as O’Malley put on a 50-44 performance against the fifth ranked Vera, out-striking him every round.
O’Malley has been putting on exciting and fun-to-watch performances. His striking pedigree isn’t matched by any at Bantamweight, holding three divisional records.
The consensus number one contender at the moment is fan-favourite Merab “The Machine” Dvalishvili. Dvalishvili is a pressure-wrestler with an unmatched pace in the division.
Dvalishvili can wrestle for 25 minutes without a break, and despite being predominantly a wrestler, Dvalishvili also holds the divisional record for most strikes landed across all his fights.
Dvalishvili has just come off a near-flawless performance against a genuine legend in Henry Cejudo. He threw around the former Olympic gold-medallist wrestler like a ragdoll for two rounds, leading to a dominant unanimous decision victory for the new number one contender.
Merab is the number one contender in the Bantamweight division (Image: Getty Images)
Corey “The Sandman” Sandhagen is another fan-favourite at Bantamweight. Sandhagen is currently within the top ranks at Bantamweight, holding the number three spot. He’s known for an unpredictable striking style with a reach exceeded only by O’Malley.
He excels at using his long reach and to pressure and walk forward, instead of fighting on the back foot like most other long-ranged strikers. Sandhagen has the range and striking expertise to trade with the champion, and the grappling ability to scramble if he’s taken down.
O’Malley had a very public beef with the newly-crowned Featherweight champion Ilia “El Matador” Topuria. Both Topuria and O’Malley are incredibly explosive strikers.
Topuria, however, is also an extremely accomplished grappler, holding eight submission wins in his entire professional career. Topuria and O’Malley are only within a division of each other, with O’Malley actually calling him out in his post-fight speech.
He said: “[Ilia’s] a scary dude. He excites me, going up a weight class excites me. But honestly, I’m here for whatever.”
Topuria presented his title at the Real Madrid vs Sevilla game (Image: Getty Images)
The next fight to come up for O’Malley could come completely out of nowhere, much like the sudden un-retirement of UFC Hall-of-Famer José Aldo.
Aldo makes his surprise in Rio’s UFC 301 card. The former WEC and UFC Featherweight Champion of the World has been known to always be keeping up with the times.
Even at the latter time of his retirement, he was keeping up with legends and future hall-of-famers like Alexander Volkanovski, Max Holloway and Merab Dvalishvili. Aldo has kept up with the rapidly-progressing sport even into his older age.
Coming off his first win in a while, former world champion Petr “No Mercy” Yan could make one more title run before his retirement. Yan is an incredibly decorated fighter, and gave O’Malley an extremely competitive fight.
He mixes takedowns and striking almost seamlessly, and has wins over some of the most beloved and skilled champions in the history of the sport, and some of the strongest contenders in his division. Sandhagen being one.
During an interview with MMA Junkie, Alexandre Pantoja, the world flyweight champion, said: “ I find his reach when we train together.
It’s not a big problem for me… maybe after the second title defence I’ll be open for that opportunity. But just for O’Malley. “ It seems the 125-pound champion has his eyes on a second belt. Completely unsurprising, considering that he’s beaten nearly everyone in the division's rankings. Some of which more than once.
Possibly the most unlikely matchup in the division is Cody “No Love” Garbrandt. Garbrandt is known among fans for his ‘25-minute prime’ wherein he made the reigning champion, Dominic Cruz, look like an absolute amateur.
Garbrandt, like O’Malley, is known for his exceptional striking, but also his uncanny talent to make his opponent miss. His matchup with former flyweight champion Deiveson “God of War’ Figueiredo will be his first real test following his one-year hiatus from the sport.
If he wins that, there’s a strong possibility that the Bantamweight rankings could be shaken up.