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It seems like Devin Haney and Sean O'Malley won't be partaking in mixed martial arts versus boxing crossovers.
The undisputed lightweight world boxing champion was a recent guest on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani ahead of his upcoming bout versus Regis Prograis.
Despite the December 2nd fight being locked in, one cannot help, but fantasy match make a bit in this current landscape. With it being a landscape of influencer fighting, combat sports crossover bouts, and the like, Haney versus O'Malley would invariably be mentioned as a curiosity.
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Sean O'Malley's approach being more striking-centric [with twelve of his seventeen MMA wins coming by way of (T)KO] also adds to the intrigue, as well as the fact that both have historically fought at the same weight.
When asked by Helwani if he would ever entertain a bout with the UFC's reigning bantamweight champion, 'The Dream' said:
"It's not the best thing for Sean O'Malley to get in a boxing ring with me. It's just not; it won't be competitive... It won't be competitive. But I respect him in the cage, what he does in the cage. You know, he's a hell of a fighter in the cage. But when he step into that square circle, the boxing ring, it's a total different thing."
Check out a clip of the interview below
Devin Haney heading north of 135 pounds
While it's understandable to see discourse about a fight between prolific 135-pound title holders in different combat sports, Devin Haney's next contest is actually in a higher-weight class.
He journies upward to 140 pounds in the pursuit of claiming the WBC world super lightweight belt from Regis Prograis.
Check out the first Haney and Prograis staredown below
Prograis looks to make the sophomore defense of his WBC hardware in what is also his second fight of the calendar year.
Devin Haney enters this fourth quarter of the 2023 contest on the heels of besting pound-for-pound great Vasiliy Lomachenko. This came via a polarizing unanimous decision win to retain the WBC, WBO, WBA, and IBF lightweight world titles in May.
