"I don’t think they really want Arman to become champion" - Sean O'Malley claims UFC is trying to protect Ilia Topuria's championship reign

UFC 317: Topuria vs Oliveira - Source: Getty
Ilia Topuria is the current UFC lightweight champion (Source: Getty)

Former UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley dissected the happenings from the latest event this past weekend.

Ad

Arman Tsarukyan defeated Dan Hooker in the main event of UFC Qatar and the Armenian reignited his feud with Ilia Topuria.

Tsarukyan was to fight Topuria for the latter’s lightweight title, but the UFC has avoided setting that battle up. O’Malley claimed this was an interesting fight but believed that the promotion would not set this up.

O’Malley was speaking on his YouTube channel and claimed that the UFC wanted to keep Topuria as the champion. This was the reason why they didn’t want to set up Topuria vs. Tsarukyam:

Ad

Get the latest updates on One Championship Rankings at Sportskeeda and more

"I do not think the UFC will make Arman vs. Ilia because I think they love Ilia as a champion, he’s a great champion. I don’t think they really want Arman to become champion. He has a fu***** legitimate chance of beating Ilia. I can’t believe I said it… If anyone has a chance at beating Ilia at 155, it’s Arman the turkey man Tsarukyan.”
Ad

Check out Sean O’Malley’s comments below:

Ad

Arman Tsarukyan calls out Ilia Topuria

Arman Tsarukyan wasted no time in calling out the champion Ilia Topuria after his impressive win at UFC Qatar.

The Armenian first thanked Dan Hooker for taking up the fight. He then wanted to fight Topuria and didn’t want the lightweight champion to run anymore.

“Me VS Ilia is the best fight to make across any division. No more running el pato.”
Ad

This is a chance for Tsarukyan to redeem himself. He was to fight Islam Makhachev for the UFC lightweight title at UFC 311.

However, the Armenian pulled out just one day before the event. Renato Moicano took up the title shot on short notice and was easily defeated by Makhachev.

Tsarukyan has had to climb back up after missing his title shot, and this win should put him firmly in the championship picture.

Quick Links

Edited by Saiyed Adeem Karim
Sportskeeda logo
Close menu
WWE
WWE
NBA
NBA
NFL
NFL
MMA
MMA
Tennis
Tennis
NHL
NHL
Golf
Golf
MLB
MLB
Soccer
Soccer
F1
F1
WNBA
WNBA
down arrow icon
More
bell-icon Manage notifications