O’Malley Promises To Better In The Merab Rematch – ‘I Am So Excited’
Sean O’Malley says he’ll be “better” when he faces Merab Dvalishvili in their UFC 316 rematch on June 7 from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
The fight is a rematch of their UFC 306 clash at The Sphere, where Merab defeated O’Malley to become the UFC Bantamweight Champion. O’Malley later revealed he fought with an injury and underwent hip surgery after the loss. The Dvalishvili loss was only the second of his UFC career, having previously come up short against Marlon Vera at UFC 252. However, O’Malley managed to avenge that loss against him at UFC 299. Merab successfully defended his belt against Umar Nurmagomedov, winning via a unanimous decision. Now, O’Malley looks to reclaim the title, promising a much-improved version of himself.
O’Malley Reacts
“I am so excited for this fight. My body, my body has not felt like this since I fought Petr Yan. Since I fought Petr, my body hasn’t felt this good since 2022. It’s 2025 now. I fought Aljo (Aljamain Sterling), I fought ‘Chito’ (Marlon Vera), I fought Merab, just dealing with little (injuries)…and I’m not saying I’m the only one. Every fighter’s dealing with something, but I haven’t felt this good. I’m going to be 70 percent better than I was in that first fight. I’m going to be significantly more mobile, agile, better shape. I’m gonna fight at my full potential,” O’Malley said
The problem O’Malley will face is that Merab knows he can take the fight to Sean. He defeated Umar in his last fight, who is considered one of the best grapplers in the game. However, he made Umar gas out as the rounds went on. O’Malley is known for his ability to stop his opponents, but Merab’s game plan is likely to prevent that. O’Malley also faces pressure to back up his words. His comments created the narrative that he was making excuses for being outclassed. He ultimately fell short on the biggest stage, at The Sphere which set a live gate record of $22 million. However, Ben Askren feels O’Malley made a mistake by taking that fight.
Askren Responds
“For Sean, if you look at his skillset and who he is, I kind of think this is a bad move. If he gets beat up by Merab again the he loses his whole lot of attraction because it’s like, well, you already lost to the champ twice. So, until the champ goes away, they’re not going to give you a third shot against him.
“He could have fought some maybe lower ranked guys. Against guys that can’t take him down, he kind of looks like a real friggen superstar. He’s really exciting. A really diverse striking attack. He could have looked really good, build the fight back up into something bigger, but now I feel like everyone is feeling like, ‘Hey, we just saw this. It wasn’t competitive. Why do we need to see this again?,” Askren said
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