UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili isn’t planning on resting up after fighting Sean O’Malley for a second time.
Dvalishvili and O’Malley will headline UFC 316 in Newark nine months on from their first showdown inside the Sphere.
In 2024, ‘The Machine’ was able to unseat ‘Sugar’ from the 135-pound throne by way of unanimous decision after five rounds of action. Second time around, Dvalishvili is looking to finish O’Malley.
Should the Georgian champion escape as unscathed as he is hoping on June 7, he’s planning to make a quick return for a first-time clash with one of the bantamweight division’s top names.
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Merab Dvalishvili open to a quick turnaround to face Cory Sandhagen after UFC 316
During a recent media scrum previewing his fast-approaching second UFC bantamweight title defense, Dvalishvili briefly looked ahead to what could await him after the O’Malley rematch.
Many identified Petr Yan as a more logical opponent for ‘The Machine’ after the champ’s victory over Umar Nurmagomedov. But Dvalishvili doesn’t even expect the Russian to be next.
With Yan fighting down the rankings against O’Malley’s teammate Marcus McGhee in July, Dvalishvili is hoping to make a fast turnaround after UFC 316 to face the challenge of Cory Sandhagen for the very first time.
“I want to be busy,” Dvalishvili said. “I will be happy if I will fight two more times this year [after UFC 316].
“It looks like Cory Sandhagen is ready for me. We’ve never fought each other. He’s a great contender. He’s fought everybody. He is a good fighter, we all know.
“I don’t mind to take another quick turnaround to fight [Sandhagen] and then fight one more [time] end of this year, either in New York or here, my new home in Las Vegas.”
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Merab Dvalishvili admitted a struggle for motivation ahead of Sean O’Malley rematch
Before potentially setting his sights on Sandhagen, Dvalishvili must first repeat his feat from September 2024 when he runs it back with O’Malley at the Prudential Center.
That might be easier said than done, both due to O’Malley’s possible improvements and Dvalishvili’s apparent struggle for motivation.
The Georgian standout recently admitted that building hunger for the upcoming rematch was difficult given his past success over ‘Sugar’.
“In my professional career this is my first rematch,” Dvalishvili said during an interview with Michael Bisping. “In Georgia I was fighting pro rules but those fights are not on my official record.
“So I had a rematch before at the beginning of my career. And that doesn’t count because I was so new to the game. Now, it’s the first rematch of my professional career. To be honest with you, I already beat him and it’s hard to get 100 percent motivated, you know?”
Dvalishvili will hope that he has fully overcome that first hurdle ahead of UFC 316, as he looks for a victory that will extend his bantamweight reign beyond the length of O’Malley’s.