Sean O’Malley had a vested curiosity within the UFC Abu Dhabi fundamental occasion as a result of the winner may find yourself as the following challenger for his bantamweight title.
Ultimately, Umar Nurmagomedov earned a formidable unanimous resolution win over Cory Sandhagen to vault himself close to the highest of the division and probably solidify his place because the No. 1 contender. O’Malley credited Nurmagomedov on a job effectively performed, particularly realizing how a lot respect he had for Sandhagen as a fighter.
“It seemed like [Umar] did win however once more that was a really shut struggle,” O’Malley mentioned on his YouTube channel. “Cory is in my view top-of-the-line pound-for-pound guys on this planet so for Umar to be ranked No. 10, which quite a lot of the blokes wouldn’t struggle him so I’m not shocked that he didn’t have that many excessive stage fights up till this or no less than excessive stage, in style opponents. Nobody within the UFC needed to struggle this man.
“Unimaginable efficiency by each guys actually. Cory did a very good job shutting down Umar’s offensive takedowns and wrestling. Hanging was fairly shut. Umar seemed like he landed tougher pictures. That’s as excessive stage of a struggle because it will get.”
Nurmagomedov’s win alongside along with his rising recognition may cement him as the right opponent to face O’Malley subsequent — assuming he will get by Merab Dvalishvili in his subsequent title protection at UFC 306 in September.
O’Malley has positively taken discover however he revealed there could also be a good greater cause to hunt out and destroy Nurmagomedov in a title struggle — it might drive Conor McGregor nuts.
“Me versus Umar subsequent?” O’Malley mentioned. “Hash tag ‘we’ll see LOL.’ [Deiveson Figueiredo] known as me out, Ilia [Topuria] and Max [Holloway] are going to struggle quickly. Undefeated Umar 18-0 versus undefeated ‘Suga Present’ 19-0, beat a Dagestani? I wouldn’t thoughts that.
“That may be an actual good approach to get at Conor. Think about how jealous he can be? I’d go whoop Umar only for that cause alone. Might be a possible large subsequent struggle.”
In fact, McGregor has a protracted historical past with that combating household out of Dagestan after he engaged in a fierce rivalry with Khabib Nurmagomedov earlier than falling to him by rear-naked choke again in 2018. Even after the struggle was completed, Nurmagomedov ended up diving over the cage to go after certainly one of McGregor’s coaches and a wild brawl broke out inside the octagon earlier than safety may intervene.
Whereas Khabib is lengthy since retired with no plans to ever return, his closest family and friends have carried on the legacy his late father Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov began. Islam Makhachev reigns as UFC light-weight champion, Usman Nurmagomedov serves as light-weight king in Bellator and now Umar could be the following Nurmagomedov destined for greatness.
In the meantime, O’Malley has just lately focused McGregor as a possible struggle he’d prefer to pursue after his one-time idol all of a sudden turned his rival following some ugly forwards and backwards exchanges by interviews and social media.
Getting a win over a member of the Nurmagomedov clan — one thing McGregor was by no means in a position to do — would possibly simply be O’Malley’s approach to get his consideration.
That mentioned, the all the time colourful bantamweight champion can’t lose sight of what’s really forward of him subsequent.
O’Malley praised Dvalishvili as a worthy contender who deserves his full consideration however after one other win, Nurmagomedov may simply be the best opponent.
“I’ve received to get by Merab subsequent clearly,” O’Malley mentioned. “Everyone knows how harmful Merab is. The man has a 9 struggle win streak. He’s beat like 5 former champions. Dude is as legit because it will get.
“I simply imagine that I’ll put his lights out and onto the following so Umar will be subsequent. However similar earlier than I fought Chito [Vera], I couldn’t choose. Is Merab subsequent? Is Merab subsequent? I had to determine Chito first, which I did very simply some would say. I’ve received to exit, take Merab out and we’ll what the ‘Suga Present’ has subsequent.”
