Sean O’Malley successfully defended his bantamweight title for the first time, beating Marlon Vera at UFC 299 on Saturday.
The fight initially received criticism from fans and a few fellow bantamweight fighters, as many believed Vera hadn’t fully earned a title shot following his recent performances.
Despite that, ‘Suga’ Sean put on a show as always, utterly dominating the Ecuadorian for 25 minutes, picking up a unanimous decision win.
After the main event spectacle, O’Malley admitted that he had a backstage interaction with the number one contender and possible next opponent, Merab Dvalishvili. The Georgian weighed in as a backup for the bantamweight main event, but his services weren’t required.
‘The Machine’ Dvalishvili is currently on a 10-fight win streak and holds recent wins over former double champion, Henry Cejudo, and former bantamweight champion, Petr Yan.
The two previously had an altercation in the cage back at UFC 288, after Aljamain Sterling defended his belt against Henry Cejudo. Merab who was cornering teammate, Sterling, took O’Malley’s jacket and put it on after O’Malley was brought into the cage to face off with then-champ, Sterling.
The two subsequently exchanged words and it sparked the start of their rivalry.
O’Malley’s backstage interaction with Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 299
Sean O’Malley told Pat McAfee on The Pat McAfee Show, that after his win on Saturday night, he had backstage interaction with his potential next challenger.
“I had a couple of runnings, Merab came up to me and congratulated me, I said thank you, I thought it was a fan I didn’t even recognize him and then he said ‘You’ve got to say my name’ and I was like ‘oh s*** that’s Merab’, I didn’t realize I just thought it was someone saying good job.”
In his Octagon interview after his performance, O’Malley called for a fight with featherweight champion, Ilia Topuria. The 29-year-old said he would like to fight for the Spaniard’s belt, in Spain.
O’Malley has explained his reasoning for wanting to fight Topuria next, but if it is Merab, he wants it to take place at The Sphere.
“The dude’s nose is so crooked but very well, Merab 100% could be next if Merab’s next I would love to do it in the Sphere in Vegas, if Ilia’s next I would love to do it in Spain, I’m not ducking either of them.
“I’ve called out Ilia because he’s scarier than Merab. Merab’s a very very dangerous opponent he’s got a crazy gas tank, name his last three fights, you couldn’t. He’s boring, he’s not a superstar but he has a 10-fight win streak so there is something to it.
“He’s so boring he takes people down so there is something there and people want to see me lose because I’m the f****** man.”