Merab Dvalishvili is set to defend his bantamweight title against Sean O’Malley in a rematch booked for UFC 316. In a recent interview with The Schmo, the Georgian star shared his thoughts on facing O’Malley for a second time. Despite his usual boisterous nature, Dvalishvili was relatively soft-spoken.
In fact, he didn’t even claim he would beat O’Malley. Instead, he merely remarked on his opponent’s complaints of being injured in their first bout. He did, however, promise to work as hard as he always does to ensure that he performs well and meets the expectations many have of him.
“He’s hungry now. He’s different man, like he’s saying he’s gonna be 70% better. He was complaining he was injured. Let’s see, let’s find out. I gotta make sure I keep up same hard work, and I know he wants to get it back, belt, and he hits hard. It’s gonna be tough challenge. I don’t look at this fight as easy, and let’s see. We all gonna see on June 7.”
Check out Merab Dvalishvili’s thoughts on his rematch with Sean O’Malley (1:37):
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O’Malley has always struggled to accept the losses he has suffered, which was noticeable by his complete refusal to acknowledge the legitimacy of his loss to Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera at UFC 252, where he was TKO’d by the Ecuadorian. He had a similar, though less intense, reaction to losing to Dvalishvili.
After UFC 306, which saw Dvalishvili author a fairly dominant unanimous decision win, O’Malley was initially somber, even accepting the defeat. However, he quickly reversed course after rewatching the fight, expressing his belief that he had, in fact, won. He will have the chance to prove it come UFC 316.
Merab Dvalishvili has not tasted defeat since 2018
It has been seven years since Merab Dvalishvili last lost an MMA fight. After suffering a technical submission loss to Ricky Simón at UFC Fight Night 128, he went on a tear, embarking on a jaw-dropping 12-fight win streak, with 11 of his wins taking place at bantamweight, and one at catchweight.
Along the way, he has beaten former bantamweight title challenger Marlon Moraes, ex-featherweight champion and all-time great José Aldo, former bantamweight champion Petr Yan, ex-double champion Henry Cejudo, ex-bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley, and the previously unbeaten Umar Nurmagomedov.
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Edited by Ricardo Viagem
