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Sean O’Malley was in awe of Ilia Topuria’s power at UFC 308.
Featherweight champion Topuria (16-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) became the first fighter to knock out Max Holloway (26-8 MMA, 22-8 UFC) in Saturday’s main event in Abu Dhabi. During a watch-along on his YouTube channel, O’Malley (18-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) gave a live reaction to Topuria’s devastating knockout.
“God, Ilia’s a f*cking finisher though, huh? He’ll jump on you,” O’Malley said. “I think Ilia might have took that Round (1) just because he took his back at the end, but that was a super close round. … Ilia’s so dangerous until the last bell.”
O’Malley scored Round 2 for Holloway, but after Topuria tagged him with a left hook to finish the fight in Round 3, he couldn’t help but praise “El Matador,” whom he was previously angling to fight. O’Malley compared Topuria’s finishing abilities to UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira, who has knocked out his past four opponents in a row.
“Ilia just hurt Max bad,” O’Malley reacted. “Ilia lands a bomb, and Max is still stunned. He’s playing it off good. Oh, left hook! Ilia finishes Max Holloway with a left hook in Round 3. Holy sh*t, Ilia is that guy. Wow.
“Who, at 145, wants to fight Ilia right now? Ilia’s just so dangerous the whole fight. He’s a like a little f*cking Alex Pereira. You can’t tell me Islam (Makhachev) vs. f*cking Ilia isn’t a fight you would want to see.”
O’Malley lost his bantamweight title to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306 in September. He underwent hip surgery after the fight and is targeting a return in the first half of 2025.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 308.