Sean O’Malley is amused by Ryan Garcia’s confidence.

Cross-sport warfare will seemingly never die in combat sports. In some cases, it can add to the overall fun of fighting, as evidenced most recently by former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou. Current UFC bantamweight champion O’Malley is the latest MMA star to reveal his interest in testing his hands in the squared circle; it’s just a matter of finding the right opponent and then being allowed to do so.

“Sugar” likely won’t be involved in such a spectacle anytime soon, especially if Marlon Vera has anything to say about it in their rematch at UFC 299 next Saturday. Regardless, O’Malley has caught the eye of the aforementioned top boxing star Garcia (24-1), who let it be known over the weekend and Monday on The MMA Hour that he’ll gladly fight O’Malley (17-1, 1 NC in MMA). He’s so confident that he even feels he’d “destroy” the UFC champion in MMA.

“Buddy. Brother. I would kill you within minutes,” O’Malley said on his TimboSugarShow podcast. “It’s just not even realistic.

“It’s crazy how stupid and delusional that is. I wonder if people think that when I call out boxers though. Is that the same kind of thing? I mean, it is a little bit crazy when I call out boxers. A little bit. Not a ton. Not a 100 percent crazy. A little bit. But when he boxers say they want to fight in MMA, 100 percent crazy.”

In either sport where a matchup took place between O’Malley and Garcia, it would be the debut for one of them. Not known for his grappling abilities, O’Malley doesn’t feel it would be necessary to take down his fellow striker.

Randy Couture famously made quick work of his boxing legend counterpart James Toney with an instant takedown in 2010. O’Malley said he’d instead work his overall kickboxing arsenal to silence “King” Garcia if the hypothetical bout came to fruition.

“I don’t need to take him down — I mean, I could take him down and choke him, but it’s like, I would kick him in the f****** body. I would kick his little sticks. Whatever the f*** I wanted to him,” O’Malley said. “I could box him with MMA gloves. It’s a different sport just with those little MMA gloves. The distance is different.

“It was cute. I could beat him and Devin Haney in the same night back-to-back in a fight. It’s just not competitive. Pure delusion. Good f****** boxer, high-level boxer, but beat by Gervonta Davis. That has nothing to do with it but I thought I’d throw that out there.”

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TOP STORIES

Unlikely. Ryan Garcia: ‘I will destroy Sean O’Malley’ in UFC fight

Beef. Paulo Costa accuses Khamzat Chimaev of avoiding fights: ‘He has no balls’

Odds. Brian Ortega opens as betting favorite to be Ilia Topuria’s first title defense

Assessment. Sean O’Malley believes Chito Vera has ‘peaked’ in UFC career: ‘You can’t just be durable’

Questions. Monday Mailbag: UFC Mexico City, PFL vs. Bellator, and what comes next for the flyweight division?

Next. Henry Cejudo calls out Brandon Moreno for UFC 306 fight at Sphere

Heat. Mike Perry unloads on ‘f****** childish’ Dana White and ‘disrespectful rich a**holes’ in UFC

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VIDEO STEW

The MMA Hour.

UFC Vegas 87 Promo.

Rozenstruik’s knockouts.

Free fight.

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LISTEN UP

On To the Next One. MMA Fighting’s Jed Meshew and Alex K. Lee discuss the matches to make after UFC Mexico.

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MORNING MUSIC

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SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Where else?

And jokes.

Thoughts.

Damn.

Big actor man.

What the hell?

Traveling.

Next.

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FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

L’udovit Klein (20-4-1) vs. AJ Cunningham (11-3); UFC Vegas 87, March 2

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FINAL THOUGHTS

How neither side of MMA or boxing has learned what the results will typically be when they step to the other side is beyond me. Should we blame Francis Ngannou?!

Thanks for reading!

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EXIT POLL

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