Merab Dvalishvili and Sean O’Malley seem to be gearing up for their potential bantamweight title rematch in a bit of a different way.
Last September at the historic UFC 306 event, Merab Dvalishvili and Sean O’Malley met for the first time when Dvalishvili dethroned O’Malley with a dominant performance.
The fight was covered in controversy after O’Malley’s corner attempted to distract Dvalishvili during the fight, which led to bizarre moments throughout the fight.
Since then, the Georgian champion has defended his title once when Dvalishvili dominated Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311 in a surprising performance.
Sean O’Malley and Merab Dvalishvili reunite in jacuzzi and discuss rematch
Following his successful title defense against the undefeated Nurmagomedov, ‘The Machine’ admitted that he would like to rematch ‘Suga’ Sean and that was agreed by UFC boss, Dana White who hinted that the matchup is being discussed.
O’Malley hasn’t fought since their fight last September, as he has been recovering from a torn labrum which he went into the fight with.
The two bantamweights recently bumped into each other at the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas and shared a jacuzzi together.
Not only that, but the two discussed their potential upcoming rematch which seemingly remained respectful despite their feud throughout last year.
“Ready to go again?” O’Malley asked Merab.
“What are you weighing? 158lbs, 157lbs?” the former champion asked.
“Something like that,” Dvalishvili replied.
“Have you been enjoying champ life?” asked O’Malley.
“Beginning, no, now I am,” Dvalishvili admitted.
“Your last fight was impressive, you looked good, it was a fun fight to watch,” O’Malley told him.
“When we fight again, I know you hit hard and then I know you’re gonna change plan,” Dvalishvili said.
“I only had one hip last time, I’ve got both hips now,” O’Malley replied.
“I’m gonna use my striking. You think I won’t, you think I won’t?” Dvalishvili claimed as O’Malley laughed off his statement.
When could Merab Dvalishvili vs Sean O’Malley 2 happen?
With both fighters extremely keen in running it back, the UFC likely won’t have any issues when it comes to the negotiations.
As ‘The Machine’ defended his title at the beginning of the year, he likely won’t return until at least the summer, potentially opening up the possibility to compete at International Fight Weeks, UFC 317.
White recently provided a positive update on Jon Jones, claiming that the heavyweight champion could return in the summer, and if he and Tom Aspinall fight at UFC 317, they could put together a blockbuster co-main event for the bantamweight title.