Dana White has heard claims of a title eliminator being attached to one UFC Freedom 250 fight, but he isn’t committing to it.
A marquee fight scheduled for the June 14 White House card will be contested in the bantamweight division. Former 135-pound titleholder Sean O’Malley is set to collide with Aiemann Zahabi. During a fan Q&A session hyping up this past Saturday’s UFC Winnipeg card, Zahabi claimed he received word that his fight against O’Malley will be a No. 1 contender bout.
“They added that it was a title eliminator,” Zahabi claimed. “So if I beat Sean O’Malley, I’m gonna be fighting Petr Yan for the title.”
This was brought to White’s attention during the UFC Winnipeg post-fight presser. The UFC boss is pouring cold water on that claim, although it’s not impossible for the winner to get a crack at the bantamweight gold next (h/t Bloody Elbow).
“These guys are put in these positions with great opportunities. Let’s see what the fight looks like,” White said. “Let’s see how they perform. Just to throw out there, ‘Whoever wins is gonna get it,’ that’s not really what happens here. Perform, let’s see how you look, and then we’ll make that decision.”
O’Malley has been looking to reenter the UFC bantamweight title picture following two losses to former champion Merab Dvalishvili. The “Sugar” show rebounded from those defeats with a unanimous decision win over Song Yadong at UFC 324 back in January.
As for Zahabi, he has yet to compete for UFC gold. The 38-year-old is riding a seven-fight winning streak and he’d be closer than ever to a world title if he can defeat O’Malley.
Do you think the winner of Sean O’Malley vs. Aiemann Zahabi should be next for Petr Yan, or does Merab Dvalishvili deserve an immediate rematch? Sound off in the comments below.