Sean O'Malley Open To UFC 264 Co-Main Event Clash With Dominick Cruz

Mandatory Credit: Chris Unger - Zuffa LLC & MMA Junkie

Off the back of his return to the win column at UFC 260 on Saturday night against Thomas Almeida, polarizing bantamweight contender, Sean O'Malley has expressed his interest in a possible co-headlining tilt against former two-time division titleholder, Dominick Cruz on July 10th. at UFC 264. 

Scoring a highlight-reel ground strike KO over Muay Thai ace, Almeida, O'Malley secured a massive knockdown in the opening round off the back of a devastating high-kick, however, attempted a walk-off knockout rather than sealing the deal, allowing Almeida back into the fight.

Eating a couple of notable leg kicks in the second, O'Malley again dropped Almeida in the third with a shot in the pocket, again attempting a walk-off, however, he eventually stamped his finish with a massive ground strike, rendering the Brazilian unconscious. 

Speaking on the post-fight show following UFC 260, Chael Sonnen revealed to former UFC middleweight champion, Michael Bisping that he had received a text message from former titleholder, Cruz, who had expressed his interest in matching with O'Malley next.

"Sean O'Malley, We were throwing out some matches and guys I must confess," Sonnen said. "I don't have my glasses on, I couldn't quite see, but I believe Dominick Cruz just heard our piece and told us to throw his name into the O'Malley mix. I don't have my glasses on, but Dominick told me something about O'Malley just now."

"Michael (Bisping), I'll tell you what he (Dominick Cruz) said," Sonnen said. "He wants the fight, he's watching us right now and he wants the fight."

 

While live on the #UFC260 post show, @ChaelSonnen received a text from @DominickCruz saying he's interested in fighting Sean O'Malley 👀 pic.twitter.com/6AvBwdWJyD

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) March 28, 2021

In response to Cruz's interest in a potential showdown, O'Malley shared the same sentiments -- even going one further and floating the idea of a co-headlining bout at UFC 264 on July 10th. -- with is currently targeted by the UFC to feature a main event clash between two-time foes, Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor.

"The second after you fight the question is, who's next?" O'Malley said during a recent interview on the Pat McAfee Show. "I heard Dominick Cruz texted Chael Sonnen saying he wanted that fight. So, I don't know if Chael got a prank text from a fake Dom or if that's real. That's a potential matchup."

"I know Dustin Poirier tweeted the other day, July 10th., so I think I'm a pretty good co-main event type dude," O'Malley explained. "Dustin (Poirier) vs. Conor (McGregor), Suga vs. Dominick, I don't know, that makes sense, that might be it. July, we'll see. I definitely want to get in there a couple more times this year."

While O'Malley returned to the winner's enclosure over the weekend, former WEC and UFC bantamweight pacesetter, Cruz rebounded from his Octagon return title challenge loss to Henry Cejudo in May of last year, to take a unanimous decision victory over Casey Kenney at UFC 259 on March 6th. -- scoring his twenty-third professional victory.