Sean O'Malley loves Payton Talbott's callout, but fighting him next? That depends

Sean O’Malley would only fight Payton Talbott if a UFC title shot isn’t next.

That will depend on the outcome of the upcoming fight between bantamweight champion Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili, who square off in the UFC 333 co-main event on Oct. 24 in Abu Dhabi. O’Malley (20-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) holds a win over Yan at UFC 280 but has lost twice to Dvalishvili in title fights.

Talbott (12-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) called out O’Malley after finishing Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 332 in Salt Lake City and claimed the pair were in talks to fight at the White House.

“We’ll address the ducking allegations first of all,” O’Malley said on his “The SuGuru Show.” “I don’t like bringing family into this, but I swear on my family I did not get offered Payton Talbott at the White House. Here’s the thing: If he can also swear that he did, then there was miscommunication somewhere along the line. I feel like he made it up. I don’t think he ever got offered me. I can’t imagine them offering someone a fight without asking ‘Suga,’ the A-side. They asked this guy? They would ask me. I never got offered Payton Talbott at the White House, so that’s that.

“He called me out, and that sounds good. If Petr goes out there and loses, let’s squabble. Me and Payton, let’s make it happen. If Petr goes out there and wins, I’m ducking him for a tougher fight. I’m ducking him for Petr Yan. Four of my last seven fights, I fought three of the greatest bantamweights of all time: Petr, Aljamain Sterling and Merab, and I beat Merab once. So, I beat all three of the greatest bantamweights of all time. I ain’t ducking.”

O’Malley did praise Talbott for his performance and said the 28-year-old caught his attention early on.

“I remember watching Payton Talbott on Contender Series, and I was like, ‘That motherfcker is sick,'” O’Malley said. “I knew I’d probably fight him someday. I like his style inside the octagon and outside the octagon. He’s got swag. … I like this. This is fcking awesome. I wasn’t on the fight card, I haven’t been in the media for a while.

“A guy comes out and calls me out, every headline: Payton calls out ‘Suga.’ This is good. This is what you want in the sport. You want people calling you out. You want your name out there. My name is out there, people want to see it, it’s a fun stylistic fight. I like that. It’s good for me.”

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Sean O’Malley loves Payton Talbott’s callout, but fighting him next? That depends