Sean O'Malley plans to 'steal the show' in head-to-head with Canelo Alvarez fight

They don’t call Las Vegas the ‘Fight Capital of the World’ for nothin.  

Next Saturday, Las Vegas will host UFC 306 at the Sphere while Canelo Alvarez and Edgar Berlanga fight for the super middleweight WBC, WBO and WBA boxing titles three miles away at T-Mobile Arena.  Both events take place on Mexican Independence Day weekend.    

Bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley headlines the UFC 306 fight card in the historic event at the high-tech venue against top contender Merab Dvalishvili.  The fight promotion is putting a lot of stock in O’Malley’s ability to generate interest.  In an interview with Kevin Iole, O’Malley spoke about going head-to-head in Las Vegas against the boxing legend.

“Every fight gets me to that next level, obviously.  Going out there and knocking out Aljo [Aljamain Sterling] really kind of put me up to where I wanted to be.  Going out there putting on a masterclass against Chito [Marlon Vera] in Miami, headlining it, biggest bantamweight fight in history.  Now headlining the Sphere.  It’s just a step closer to where I want to be,” O’Malley said.  

“We’re competing wit boxing.  We’re competing with Canelo Alvarez, the biggest Mexican boxer, the best boxer alive right now.  We’re competing head-to-head with them,” O’Malley continued.  “A little friendly competition.  I think this fight, leading up to it, it’s going to a massive fight.  Come Sunday, come Monday, who are they talking about?  That’s going to be what’s important.  That’s where I want to steal the show.”

O’Malley won the bantamweight title by defeating Sterling at UFC 292 via technical knockout early in the second round.  He avenged his only career loss in his first title defense, defeating Vera in a one-sided decision.  Dvalishvili, a training partner and teammate of Sterling’s, will also be looking to steal the show on Sept. 14.