Sean O’Malley vs. Ilia Topuria would be a “sweet fight,” says coach Tim Welch: “Who wouldn’t want to see that fight?”
The coach of Sean O’Malley, Tim Welch, sees big potential in a clash between his fighter and Ilia Topuria.
O’Malley is the reigning UFC bantamweight champion. Topuria will be fighting for UFC Featherweight Championship on February 17. He’ll attempt to take the 145-pound gold from Alex Volkanovski in the main event of UFC 298 inside the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
If Topuria can unseat “The Great,” then Welch sees a massive opportunity to book a champion vs. champion fight down the line.
RELATED: SEAN O’MALLEY SAYS SUPER FIGHT WITH ILIA TOPURIA WILL BE NEXT IF BOTH MEN WIN THEIR UPCOMING BOUTS
Sean O’Malley vs. Ilia Topuria Is A Slam Dunk For Tim Welch
Tim Welch made an appearance on MMAFighting.com‘s “The MMA Hour,” and he admitted that he feels a bout between O’Malley and Topuria would be box office.
“Who wouldn’t want to see that fight?” Welch said on The MMA Hour. “That would be a sweet fight. Ilia’s one of our favorite fighters to watch. He’s one of the most technical, sound guys out there, just watching his boxing. But I have seen them in the same room, I’ve seen them — Ilia’s not way bigger [than O’Malley]. And Ilia’s an orthodox guy, he’s got a really wide stance, he’s got a super linear stance — and we’ve been fighting orthodox boxers [O’Malley’s] whole career. Orthodox boxers like that who are good, they really want to get their jab started. It’s just a good fight for Sean. He’s good at knocking them out.
“And I think you can kind of hear it in Ilia’s voice when you even bring up Sean. It doesn’t seem like he’s that interested in that. It’s like, why wouldn’t you be that interested in that? That’s a huge fight, especially for Ilia. But Ilia brings up Conor McGregor. It’s like, OK, so you’re going fight Conor McGregor at 185 pounds? That just doesn’t even seem realistic at all. But [Topuria vs. O’Malley is] definitely a fight that is interesting. And people who say, ‘Oh my God, [O’Malley is] so stupid, Ilia would kill him,’ it’s like, yeah, that’s what everyone said about Petr Yan, that’s what everyone said about [Aljamain Sterling].”
O’Malley is set to put his UFC Bantamweight Championship on the line against Marlon “Chito” Vera at UFC 299 on March 9.
