Having seen the pushback on social media after calling for a champ-vs-champ showdown with new featherweight titlist Ilia Topuria, UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley has now said longtime contender Merab Dvalishvili will be his next opponent – two weeks before his maiden championship defence vs. Marlon Vera: the only man to beat him in his professional career to date.
O’Malley: Merab’s next, I fight for the people
UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley has explained a change of heart, having seen the criticism furiously fly his way after declaring a desire to face new UFC featherweight titleholder Ilia Topuria next, having watched the Georgian’s stunning stoppage win over Alexander Volkanovski cageside last weekend.
O’Malley, who faces Marlon Vera in a rematch to headline the UFC 299 pay-per-view in Miami on March 9, told fans about the u-turn on his YouTube channel today.
“Let me start with this: initially I was calling for Ilia, wanted that fight – it excites me – but I also thought the fans would get excited about it. I got a lot of pushback saying, you’re ducking Merab he’s next, so he’s next. Let’s do Merab, I’m telling you guys: I knock Merab out.”
Dvalishvili (17-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC) lost his first two promotional bouts during a five-month stretch between December 2017 and April 2018 – the latter was via a last-second submission stoppage against longtime contender Ricky Simon.
Since then though, Topuria’s compatriot has won ten straight to earn a long-awaited crack at championship gold given the logjam at 135lbs with close friend Aljamain Sterling holding the title until O’Malley’s win last August.
That unbeaten run includes an impressive decision win over former two-weight world champion Henry Cejudo last week, though O’Malley believes he’ll be the first fighter to knock out the 33-year-old should they meet as planned, calling him sloppy.
Addressing the Marlon Vera of it all…
Former interim title challenger Cory Sandhagen [3] is unlucky not to be training for his own title fight at the time of writing, having torn his right triceps early but enduring the pain to log a UD5 win over late replacement Rob Font last August.
He’s been gradually building up momentum after competitive decision defeats by T. J. Dillashaw and Petr Yan in three months during a whirlwind 2021 campaign, while March will mark a year since his comfy main event win over the aforementioned Vera. Records will show it was a split decision, though this fight was anything but.
Vera had won four of his last five prior to that disappointing display – two quite spectacularly – and since bounced back with a UD3 win over Pedro Munhoz on the Sterling-O’Malley card in August, setting up ideal conditions to build this rematch on.
On the MMA Hour, O’Malley said: “Merab is a dangerous opponent, he’s just got that good cardio and could eventually put your lights out after you gas out, but he’s not like – he didn’t finish Henry. I like big, big fights. Merab, I’m not saying that wouldn’t be up there, but what it comes down to is, what do the people truly want to see? I hate even talking about that, I’ve got Chito in-front of me.”
On the prospect of moving up to fight Topuria one day in the not-too-distant future, O’Malley said this while acknowledging Dvalishvili’s rising stock:
“He keeps doing his thing, I do mine, that’s a big fight someday. I just want to fight for the people, make the biggest fights possible, and I’ll give credit to Merab – he’s improved not just fighting but on social… doing a really good job building himself up, being himself, being a goofy ugly ass, so that fight’s next.”
UFC 299 card, as it stands
Main card
Bantamweight: Sean O’Malley (c) vs. Marlon Vera [5]
Lightweight: Dustin Poirier [3] vs. Benoit Saint Denis [12]
Welterweight: Kevin Holland [13] vs. Michael Page
Welterweight: Gilbert Burns [4] vs. Jack Della Maddalena [11]
Bantamweight: Petr Yan [4] vs. Song Yadong [7]
Prelims
Heavyweight: Curtis Blaydes [5] vs. Jailton Almeida [7]
Women’s flyweight: Katlyn Cerminara (nee, Chookagian) [4] vs. Maycee Barber [6]
Lightweight: Mateusz Gamrot [6] vs. Rafael dos Anjos [11]
Bantamweight: Pedro Munhoz [12] vs. Kyler Phillips
Early prelims
Middleweight: Michel Pereira vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk
Heavyweight: Robelis Despaigne vs. Josh Parisian
Flyweight: C. J. Vergara vs. Assu Almabayev
Women’s flyweight: Joanne Wood vs. Maryna Moroz
Picture source: Getty Images, fighter quotes hyperlinked
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