At UFC 316, Sean O’Malley will look to recapture the bantamweight title in Newark, New Jersey.
Despite his status as a former champion at 135 pounds, many believe that O’Malley faces an uphill battle in his rematch with Merab Dvalishvili.
The defending champion claimed the title at UFC 306 last September with Dvalishvili admitting that it’s hard to get motivated about an opponent that he’s already beaten.
With O’Malley getting a second shot at ‘The Machine’, having not fought since their first encounter, there’s a lot on the line for ‘Suga’ in regards to his future in the bantamweight division.
Chael Sonnen believes that a defeat would put one of the UFC’s biggest stars into a very tricky position which several elite fighters have fallen into in the past.
Chael Sonnen believes that Sean O’Malley might be forced into featherweight move following UFC 316
In a recent interview with The Schmo, Chael Sonnen stated that he believes there’s a good chance that the main event of UFC 316 will determine whether Sean O’Malley stays at bantamweight.
Aside from Merab Dvalishvili, O’Malley’s only other loss came to Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera at UFC 252, which he avenged in dominant fashion in his one and only title defense.
If ‘Suga’ is unable to reclaim the belt on June 7, he could get frozen out of the title picture for as long as ‘The Machine’ stays on top.
Sonnen made reference to two former UFC champions who found themselves in similar positions where despite being elite competitors in their weight classes, they couldn’t dethrone the champion.
‘The Bad Guy’ believes that the outcome of this rematch could lead to O’Malley being forced to move up a division if he can’t get the better of Dvalishvili the second time around.
“Sean O’Malley wins this fight or quite possibly never fights at 135 again. The only path forward for Sean O’Malley, just so he doesn’t get in that terrible spot, I’ll use Rich Franklin. I say it as respectful, Rich was so good, but he had an Anderson [Silva] problem.
“Rich could beat everybody up badly except Anderson. Max [Holloway] ended up there with [Alexander] Volkanovski. Sometimes this happens and this will be Sean’s last shot at Merab. They’re not going to go to a part three and if he can’t get around Merab, he’s going to have to go up to 145.”
- READ MORE: UFC legend proposed to his girlfriend in the cage after scoring one of the most brutal KOs
Merab Dvalishvili is prepared to strike with Sean O’Malley in the rematch
Merab Dvalishvili spoke in a recent interview with Kevin Iole about what he expects from this rematch.
‘The Machine’ is preparing for a better Sean O’Malley at UFC 316, saying that he’s prepared to strike with ‘Suga’ if his grappling game isn’t as effective on this occasion.
“I think it will be different of course because Sean will make some adjustments. He may stop my takedowns and now I’m planning to, if he stops my takedown, I’m planning to strike with him and keep up and challenge my striking with another top opponent. I’m ready for [the] worst fight and I’m ready for a very strong Sean O’Malley.”
Having found success in the final round of their first meeting, O’Malley’s team will be hoping that they’ll be able to have success in the striking exchanges earlier on this time around.