"Ain't gonna be Ilia, Ain't gonna be Pereira" - Sean O'Malley shares massive star power issue plaguing UFC White House

While Dana White is hyping up UFC White House to be the greatest fight card ever, Sean O'Malley feels the historic event is set to run into a major star-power problem.

During a recent episode of The Red Hawk Recap podcast with Tim Welch and Joe Riggs, O'Malley suggested that the card might fail to deliver on the hype, given most of the A-listers are already out of the running:

"The White House card has to be; it sounds like it's happening. It has to be f**king massive. And who is [on it]? Conor is probably... we don't know. Jon Jones, it doesn't sound like it's going to be him. Ain't going to be Ilia [Topuria], ain't going to be Pereira. Who are the biggest names [on the card]? Right now, I'm still a big name, but I'm coming off a loss; you already lost your last fight."

Check out Sean O'Malley's comments below:

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UFC White House is scheduled for June 2026, with several marquee names, including Conor McGregor, Jon Jones, Alex Pereira, and more, vying for a spot on the card.

As it stands, White doesn't want Jones on it after he chose retirement over a previously agreed-upon heavyweight title unification with Tom Aspinall. Pereira also recently announced that he has failed to secure a spot on the card.

Ilia Topuria is expected to be sidelined through at least the first quarter of 2026 amid personal issues and reports of a looming divorce. That leaves McGregor as the only bona fide superstar still technically in contention.

While 'The Notorious' has insisted that he'd be making his long-awaited return on the card against Michael Chandler, the UFC CEO has stressed that no bouts have been finalized for the event.

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Sean O'Malley addresses fan sentiment on potential White House clash against Petr Yan

After Petr Yan reclaimed the UFC bantamweight title, earning a dominant win over Merab Dvalishvili, Sean O'Malley believes it's time for Yan vs. O'Malley 2 on the White House card.

'Sugar', however, recognizes that fight fans are not too hot on the potential fight. During the aforementioned podcast, the former bantamweight kingpin lashed out at fans, saying:

"That just makes sense. 'Sugar' and Petr at the White House. America vs. Russia. But again, fans don't wanna see it. I saw on YouTube. I went and did a fight reaction, and people were like, 'Oh, you think you're going to fight Yan?. No, you're right, you guys can watch Petr vs. Merab. Go ahead. I'm going to go put out a masterful performance, and then you guys... You guys missed out, because that's what the fans want." [46:38 mark of the interview]

Edited by Ujwal Jain