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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Farah Hannoun

Sean O’Malley confident he can knock out Alexander Volkanovski but won’t move up while he’s champ

Sean O'Malley is open to a featherweight move as long as Alexander Volkanovski isn’t UFC champion.

O’Malley (17-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) captured the bantamweight title by knocking out Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292 last month. When asked if he’d consider a move up to 145 pounds, O’Malley said yes – but preferably when UFC No. 2 ranked pound-for-pound fighter Volkanovski isn’t holding the belt.

Volkanovski (26-2 MMA, 13-1 UFC) has defended his title five times, most recently a TKO of Yair Rodriguez at UFC 290 in July. He took lightweight champion Islam Makhachev to the brink at UFC 284 but fell short in a close decision loss.

“I would love to (move up) when Alexander Volkanovski is not the champ,” O’Malley said on ThatWasEpic. “That motherf*cker is pound-for-pound best in the world right now.”

That doesn’t mean O’Malley doesn’t think he can beat Volkanovski. He’s open to a superfight down the line but doesn’t see Volkanovski remaining at featherweight for too long.

“I wouldn’t say that,” O’Malley clarified. “I mean, I’m confident I can knock anyone out. I feel like I can definitely knock Alexander Volkanovski out. It’d be fricking very, very difficult. But I mean, maybe in a year or two if he’s still there, I would do it. But I think he’s going to move up to 155, so it depends who’s champ.”

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