Former UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley believes Ilia Topuria has already cemented himself as the greatest fighter in MMA history.

Before a loss to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306, Sean O’Malley had Ilia Topuria in his sights for a potential clash inside the Octagon. At the time, O’Malley was the UFC’s bantamweight champion, while Topuria knocked out Alexander Volkanovski to become the UFC featherweight titleholder.

Topuria has since knocked out Max Holloway (his lone featherweight title defense) and Charles Oliveira to become the UFC’s latest two-division champion. He’s expected to return to the Octagon in the coming months to make his first lightweight title defense.

Topuria’s meteoric rise cements him in UFC history forever. But despite his relatively small sample size in the Octagon, Topuria is already O’Malley’s UFC GOAT pick, over Jon Jones and other legends.

Sean O’Malley tabs Ilia Topuria as the ‘best pound-for-pound fighter ever’ in shocking take

During a recent video uploaded to his YouTube channel, O’Malley weighed in on a potential superfight between McGregor and Topuria at The White House next year, and made a bold claim about the UFC lightweight champ.

“Ilia vs. Conor, f— it! You want a big fight? Conor doesn’t have a great streak right now, in his last five, but if you want a f—– main event at The White House?” O’Malley said.

“But they’re not American…I think Ilia could [beat him], you can never count Conor out, but Ilia Topuria is the greatest fighter, to ever walk this Earth. Greatest fighter, pound-for-pound, ever. Even over [Jon Jones]. His last three fights, KO’s Volkanovski, Max Holloway, and Charles Oliveira.

“He’s not beating these guys by decision, not taking them down and holding them down, he’s knocking them out. It’s f—– sweet.”

Topuria’s knockout wins over Volkanovski, Holloway, and Oliveira are arguably the greatest three-fight stretch in UFC history. Jon Jones, who retired earlier this year, is a common pick as the greatest UFC fighter of all time.

After O’Malley’s Topuria callout went unanswered, the former UFC bantamweight champion remains in awe of the Spanish star’s accomplishments.