Sean O'Malley Says He's Getting A Title Shot With A Win At UFC 280

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MMA FightingMorning Report: Sean O’Malley says he’s getting a title shot with a win at UFC 280: ‘The UFC needs a champion like me’NotificationsNotifications

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Morning Report: Sean O’Malley says he’s getting a title shot with a win at UFC 280: ‘The UFC needs a champion like me’by Jed MeshewUpdated Aug 11, 2022, 12:30 PM UTC

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Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty ImagesJed Meshew has been covering combat sports since 2016.

Sean O’Malley believes he’s the champion the UFC needs right now.

This October, O’Malley will face the biggest test of his career when he fights former bantamweight champion Petr Yan at UFC 280. With a win, O’Malley expects to get the next crack at the bantamweight title against the winner of Aljamain Sterling and T.J. Dillashaw, which also takes place on that card, and when he does, he believes he will become the 135-pound champion the UFC has been looking for.

“I was trying to be humble, but you’re absolutely right. I f****** beat Petr, I’m going to be the champ, I’m going to fight for the belt,” O’Malley told Michael Bisping on Bisping’s YouTube channel. “That’s what everyone wants. The UFC needs a champion like me. So yeah, you’re 100 percent right. I go out there and starch Petr, he face plants on Oct. 22 in Abu Dhabi, on a massive card, you’re pretty accurate in saying I’ll get the title shot. Especially with Aljo and T.J. being on that card.”

O’Malley is currently only the No. 13-ranked bantamweight in the UFC’s rankings, having never beaten a Top-10 fighter. “Suga” had the opportunity in his most recent outing against Pedro Munhoz at UFC 276, but the bout ended in a no-contest after O’Malley delivered an inadvertent eye poke that stopped the match. Still, a win over No. 1-ranked Yan would seemingly put him in that title conversation. Unless, according to O’Malley, Dillashaw defeats Sterling to become the new bantamweight champion.

“I’m pretty sure T.J. said he wouldn’t fight me for his title defense,” O’Malley said. “There’s a couple ways you could look at that. You could look at that like he doesn’t want to fight me because he knows I’m good, or that’s pretty much the only reason I can figure out why he wouldn’t want to fight me. I’m the biggest fight in the division for anybody.”

Dillashaw certainly has been critical of O’Malley in the past, saying that he “has too many holes” to become champion, however, a win over Yan may be enough to change Dillashaw’s mind. Because to hear him tell it, O’Malley believes he can beat Yan anywhere the fight goes, and he plans to silence his doubters at UFC 280.

“I believe this is going to be a sweet kickboxing match,” O’Malley said. “Petr says he’s a master of boxing, I believe I’m the best MMA striker in the UFC, so I do believe it will be a very interesting, high-level kickboxing match... I don’t think he’s coming to wrestle, and if he does, I wouldn’t mind choking him. I’m very, very confident in my jiu-jitsu. I really haven’t gotten to show it at all.”

UFC 280 takes place on Oct. 22 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.

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FINAL THOUGHTS

Thanks for reading! See y’all tomorrow.

EXIT POLL

If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @JedKMeshew on Twitter and let him know about it. Also follow MMAFighting on Instagram and like us on Facebook.

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