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Raoni Barcelos called out UFC President Dana White and matchmaker Sean Shelby to book him against 'Sugar' Sean O'Malley next.
The bantamweight veteran took to Twitter following Sean O'Malley's knockout win over Thomas Almeida at UFC 260 last weekend. Raoni Barcelos drew attention to his unbeaten UFC run in the tweet and asked the UFC to make the O'Malley fight happen in April 2021.
'@danawhite @seanshelby I’ve been beating everybody who you put in front of me, give somebody who make sense, I will be glad to beat @SugaSeanMMA too, please make this happen in April !! I will be ready!!' Raoni Barcelos tweeted.
The timeframe proposed by Raoni Barcelos is a little surprising as Sean O'Malley will have less than two weeks to train, even if the UFC answers Barcelos' call and makes the fight. O'Malley received a three-week medical suspension from NSAC with strict no contact until April 11, 2021, following his win over Thomas Almeida.
Raoni Barcelos (16-1 MMA, 5-0 UFC) is a Brazilian Mixed Martial Artist who is currently riding a nine-fight winning streak. After making his UFC debut with a third-round knockout win over Kurt Holobaugh at featherweight in July 2018, Barcelos dropped to 135lbs for the subsequent bouts.
Barcelos' last fight was a unanimous decision win over Khalid Taha at UFC Vegas 13 in November 2020. Both fighters won the Fight of the Night bonus for the back-and-forth fight.
Sean O'Malley is Raoni Barcelos' ticket to the title run
Sean O'Malley is one of the most highly touted prospects on the UFC roster right now. 'Sugar' Sean's 12-fight unbeaten career run came to an end against Marlon Vera at UFC 252 in August 2020.
However, the loss did little to hurt O'Malley's stock as he bounced back with an impressive knockout win over Thomas Almeida at UFC 260.
O'Malley is still one of the best fighters outside of the top fifteen and one of the highest-selling ones too. Soon to be 34-year-old Raoni Barcelos is not a young fighter for the lower weight classes.
Barcelos has put on some impressive performances in the UFC so far but does not have a notable fighter on his resume that could warrant him bigger fights. But defeating Sean O'Malley is a prospect that could change it and launch Raoni Barcelos on a title run.
