Sean
O’Malley believes Aleksandre
Topuria doesn’t like him.
O’Malley (20-3) defeated Aiemann
Zahabi via a second-round knockout at
UFC White House earlier this month. Meanwhile, Ilia
Topuria lost his lightweight title to Justin
Gaethje in a massive upset on the same card. Ilia’s elder
brother, UFC bantamweight Aleksandre, cornered his brother at the
White House.
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O’Malley came across Topuria and his team backstage at the White
House. While O’Malley and Ilia have traded barbs in the past,
“Suga” believes there are no hard feeling between them. However,
O’Malley believes Aleksandre doesn’t like him. O’Malley claims that
while he shook hands with Ilia’s entire team, Aleksandre refused to
acknowledge him.
Lingering Animosity
“If Ilia’s heard me talk about him, he knows I think he is one of
the greatest of all time,” O’Malley said on Tim Welche’s YouTube channel. “I made a couple of short
jokes, he’s made fun of me, like, ‘Ugly tattoo.’… But his brother
didn’t look at me. I shook all of his team’s hands, acknowledged.
But his brother did not look at me, wouldn’t look at me at all.
Doesn’t like me.”
Ilia (17-1) suffered his first professional loss against Gaethje at
the White House. Gaethje handed “El Matador” a brutal beating,
forcing his corner to throw in the towel after the fourth round.
Meanwhile, Aleksandre (7-1) has won both of his
UFC outings via unanimous decision so far.