Tim Welch’s opinion of Sean O'Malley being a tough stylistic matchup for featherweight champion Ilia Topuria hasn’t changed after UFC 308.
Topuria (16-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) capped off a banner 2024 by knocking out another divisional great in Max Holloway this past Saturday in Abu Dhabi. Prior to UFC 308, Welch said he sees “flat-footed” Topuria as a more favorable matchup for O’Malley than Holloway. O’Malley (18-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) has since lost his bantamweight title to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306, but Welch still thinks a fight with Topuria could happen someday.
“I don’t think it’s past,” Welch told Submission Radio. “I mean, you never know what’s going to happen in the UFC. It’s not impossible that Volkanovski goes out there and beats Ilia Topuria. I mean, that’s possible. So, you never know, and I do think stylistically, Sean could give Ilia problems. He really could, but Ilia Topuria is a very, very scary fight.
“That’s not a fight you go in there and be like, ‘Oh yeah, man, we’re going to go out,’ – it’s like, you make one mistake with Ilia Topuria, and you’re going to be lights out, looking up at the ceiling or whatever. But that’s a scary, scary fight. But I do believe that Sean, with his range and with his speed and with just his overall skill set, he could give Ilia problems. I do believe that.”
After losing his title to Dvalishvili, O’Malley underwent surgery for a torn labrum in his left hip – an injury he came into the fight with. Dvalishvili appears willing to grant O’Malley an immediate rematch, and if the pair do run things back, Welch is confident that “The Suga Show” would get the finish.
“A healthy Sean, I do believe we go out there and end up KO’ing Merab in between some sort of scramble or something,” Welch said. “On the in-betweens, I think Sean will be able to catch his chin and put him down.”
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