In case Sean O’Malley wins his rematch against Marlon Vera, he will next face Merab Dvalishvili, whom he admittedly described as “f****** good” due to the fighter’s 10-fight winning streak. This, nonetheless, doesn’t mean that “Sugar” is giving up his plan to fight new featherweight champ Ilia Topuria in the future.
O’Malley still has to defend his belt against Vera at UFC 299, but there’s already another name waiting for him: Dvalishvili. After his win at UFC 298, the Georgian fighter was confirmed by UFC CEO Dana White as the next challenger of the bantamweight champ. The announcement has made huge changes in O’Malley’s original plan, which is to fight Topuria, but he knows that a match against the “dangerous” Dvalishvili could be exciting as well due to the fighter’s record and capability.
“I was hearing rumors up to fight day that, ‘Hey, Henry didn’t have a great camp, Henry hurt his groin, Henry didn’t get as good of sparring and training as much as he wanted to,’ so with that being said, you can’t go into a fight not 100 percent against Merab,” O’Malley recalled Dvalishvili’s win over Henry Cejudo at UFC 298 during The MMA Hour interview. “Merab is a machine; he has a 10-fight win streak. He’s f****** good.”
Of course, “El Matador” remains his top choice, but O’Malley knows that his next fight will still depend on who the UFC will place in front of him. Yet, if he is the one to decide, he will make the callout to the opponent who makes him feel the excitement.
“When I think of a scary opponent, like what makes me [shiver], that’s Ilia,” O’Malley shared. “Ilia gives me that [feeling of], ‘He could put your f****** lights out and change your life.’ That’s a scary opponent.”
