Sean O’Malley wants to return next summer, and hopes his opponent will be a still-champion Merab Dvalishvili.
Back at UFC 306, O’Malley lost his bantamweight title to Dvalishvili in the highest-grossing event in MMA history at Sphere in Las Vegas. He insists that he did enough to win three rounds of the five in a drab affair, but he appeared to the untrained eye to be dominated over the five.
Since then, he has undergone surgery and is recovering, with plans for a rematch this summer. But that means Dvalishvili will have to get through the undefeated Usman Nurmagomedov at UFC 311 in order to set up such a fight.
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Sean O’Malley wants Merab Dvalishvili rematch next summer
Sean O’Malley was recently in Japan to promote a RIZIN event, and did a number of Q&As during his visit. He spoke about a range of topics including a potential fight in the country, but also gave some tidits about his return to the octagon.
“Ideally Merab beats Umar and I get the rematch,” he told media in Japan of his hopes for the UFC 311 co-main event. “But if it has to be Umar, that’s what I want next is a title fight, hopefully mid next year, so the winner of that one is coming up very very soon.”
Merab Dvalishvili was pushing for a rematch between the pair immediately after UFC 306, likely knowing the extra money he would make as a champion heading into such a highly-grossing fight. But he ended up being forced to face Nurmagomedov, who is the division’s top contender.
Merab Dvalishvili plots three title fights in four months this year
Working in O’Malley’s favor is Dvalishvili’s keen interest in staying active in the first part of 2025. He doesn’t view Nurmaogmedov as a serious contender, and reckons that O’Malley and Petr Yan pose more serious threats.
He plans to get through the Russian, and set up fights with either of his two rivals in March or April, allowing himself minimal time off for an intensive few months. “I want to be busy in 2025,” he told the official UFC YouTube channel.
“I’m fighting early, on January 18, and I want to be busy. I know O’Malley wants to come back in April, I think Petr will be ready in March. So, maybe fight Petr in March, rematch Sean in April. And whoever is the next contender, I will clear the division again.”
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