“Pink head, to do this, you must dare to fight me,” the Russian wrote, addressing the American.
Earlier, O’Malley traded barbs with current UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, first stating that the Russian fighter would suffer a loss against Briton Leon Edwards and then promising to “knock the monobrow” off Nurmagomedov, who is a close friend and teammate of the UFC’s top fighter regardless of weight class.
Umar Nurmagomedov, 27, knows no defeats and is riding a four-fight win streak under the UFC banner, knocking out Brazilian Raoni Barcelos as early as the first round in his last fight. The Russian was scheduled to fight American Corey Sandhagen in August, which, in theory, could have been a contender fight for him, but Nurmagomedov suffered a shoulder injury that required surgery and withdrew from the bout.
Sean O’Malley, 29, who took the belt from fellow countryman Aljamain Sterling in August, will make his first title defense on March 9 at UFC 299 in Miami, facing Ecuadorian fighter Marlon Vera.