Following his win over Cory Sandhagen at the start of August, Umar Nurmagomedov would appear to be the next in line to challenge for the bantamweight title.
Sean O’Malley will be defending the belt against Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306 while Nurmagomedov watches on to see how it plays out.
The only thing that could potentially stop the undefeated contender from getting his shot is if there is the potential to put on a massive fight between UFC champions.
O’Malley has spoken in the past about wanting to challenge himself at featherweight and though Dvalishvili presents a very serious threat, “Suga” has big plans.
The current champion has spoken about wanting to face Nurmagomedov but a super fight against the winner of the featherweight title fight at UFC 308 could be a now-or-never opportunity for O’Malley and the promotion.
Tim Welch Says Super Fight Could Be Next For Sean O’Malley Under The Right Circumstances
In a recent interview with James Lynch for Bodog Canada, O’Malley’s head coach Tim Welch gave his thoughts on Nurmagomedov being the next contender.
Welch believes that taking on the cousin of the great Khabib Nurmagomedov will be their next challenge unless the main events of UFC 306 and UFC 308 end in emphatic fashion.
He thinks that the UFC could strike while the iron is hot if both O’Malley and either Ilia Topuria or Max Holloway is able to put in a statement performance before going on to face each other, leaving Nurmagomedov to wait a bit longer for his chance.
Welch referenced Dan Henderson’s iconic knockout of Michael Bisping at UFC 100 to make the case for this fight being put together if there is enough buzz.
“I think we’ll see how it goes and if Ilia, maybe if Max knocks out Ilia or Ilia knocks out Max cold and then ‘Suga’ just face plants Merab and drops a ‘Hendo’ bomb on him at the end and it’s just spectacular knock outs, I don’t think Dana and those guys would be opposed to make a super fight.”
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