October 29, 2024 11:20 am ET
Sean O’Malley was in awe of Ilia Topuria’s energy at UFC 308.
Featherweight champion Topuria (16-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) grew to become the primary fighter to knock out Max Holloway (26-8 MMA, 22-8 UFC) in Saturday’s essential occasion in Abu Dhabi. Throughout a watch-along on his YouTube channel, O’Malley (18-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) gave a dwell response to Topuria’s devastating knockout.
“God, Ilia’s a f*cking finisher although, huh? He’ll soar on you,” O’Malley mentioned. “I believe Ilia might need took that Spherical (1) simply because he took his again on the finish, however that was an excellent shut spherical. … Ilia’s so harmful till the final bell.”
O’Malley scored Spherical 2 for Holloway, however after Topuria tagged him with a left hook to complete the struggle in Spherical 3, he couldn’t assist however reward “El Matador,” whom he was previously angling to fight. O’Malley in contrast Topuria’s ending skills to UFC gentle heavyweight champion Alex Pereira, who has knocked out his previous 4 opponents in a row.
“Ilia simply damage Max unhealthy,” O’Malley reacted. “Ilia lands a bomb, and Max continues to be surprised. He’s taking part in it off good. Oh, left hook! Ilia finishes Max Holloway with a left hook in Spherical 3. Holy sh*t, Ilia is that man. Wow. “Who, at 145, desires to struggle Ilia proper now? Ilia’s simply so harmful the entire struggle. He’s a like a bit f*cking Alex Pereira. You possibly can’t inform me Islam (Makhachev) vs. f*cking Ilia isn’t a struggle you’ll need to see.”
O’Malley misplaced his bantamweight title to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306 in September. He underwent hip surgical procedure after the struggle and is targeting a return in the first half of 2025.
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