ABU DHABI – Sean O'Malley thinks a fight with T.J. Dillashaw would sell a lot more than Aljamain Sterling.
Dillashaw (17-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC) challenges bantamweight champion Sterling (21-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 280 co-main event at Etihad Arena. Right before the title fight, O’Malley meets former champion Petr Yan in a No. 1 contender fight.
If O’Malley (15-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) gets past Yan (16-3 MMA, 8-2 UFC), he sees a fight with Dillashaw drawing more eyes.
“If T.J. beats Aljo, T.J. will be considered the best bantamweight of all time which he kind of – he never lost his belt, so I think me vs. T.J. would be a lot bigger,” O’Malley said at Wednesday’s UFC 280 media day. “For some reason people just don’t – Aljo, he’s not a draw. I like the guy, Aljo doesn’t feel like a huge fight. It could be a main event, it’s a big fight, but it’s not like a huge fight. I think if T.J. beats Aljo, me vs. T.J. is insane. I think me vs. Aljo would be insane considering I’d be on the card, so it’s probably T.J.”
Although there are surging bantamweight contenders such as Marlon Vera and Merab Dvalishvili, UFC president Dana White said O’Malley is next in line for a title shot with a win over Yan – which doesn’t surprise O’Malley at all.
“I’m the biggest draw in the bantamweight division, I’m one of the biggest draws in the UFC,” O’Malley said. “I go out there and beat the No. 1 guy, who else would I fight other than for the title. So I kind of already knew that, hearing it confirmed from Dana, I mean I already knew that basically so it didn’t do much. I think this is a massive fight, it’s obviously not a main event, but this could be a main event. It’s a massive fight.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 280.
