Sean O’Malley thinks Merab Dvalishvili would be ‘stupid’ to strike with him when they rematch.
The UFC bantamweight champion has used his elite-level wrestling skills to reach the top of MMA.
Merab Dvalishvili carried Olympic gold medalist wrestler, Henry Cejudo, across the Octagon during his rise through the ranks.
‘The Machine’ out-grappled Sean O’Malley to realize his world champion dream at UFC 306 last September.
Sean O’Malley reacts to Merab Dvalishvili’s ‘stupid’ game plan
Sean O’Malley is one of the best strikers in MMA, but Merab Dvalishvili isn’t worried about that.
He’ll try to box and knock out ‘Suga’ when they rematch for 135lb gold at UFC 316 on June 7.
“He’s always looking for a finish,” Dvalishvili said about O’Malley on the UFC 316 Countdown show.
“He wants to knock you out. I’m just gonna strike and knock him out.”
O’Malley was shocked to learn about Dvalishvili’s new game plan for their second fight.
He responded: “This fight, he said, ‘I’m gonna prove how crazy I am. I’m gonna box with him’.
“If that’s his game plan, that would be stupid.”
Sean O’Malley admits he’ll never outdo Conor McGregor
Sean O’Malley has spent most of his career talking himself up as the heir to Conor McGregor‘s throne.
The former dual-weight UFC champion is undoubtedly the biggest star MMA has ever seen.
O’Malley backed himself to outdo McGregor for years, but now he’s realized that will never happen.
“I always kinda put myself, ‘I wanna be as big as Conor’,” he said on The Full Send Podcast.
“I wanna do that [but] it’s like, I don’t think I could be as big as Conor.
“He’s just a once-in-a-lifetime [character]. Conor, like to me, was not necessarily [just a fighter]. Obviously, his skill set is really high but when it just comes to all-around like entertainment, it’s Conor [at #1] right now.”