All signs continue to point to Sean O'Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili being the UFC's next bantamweight title fight.
O'Malley's longtime coach, Tim Welch, said:
“I feel like he has a good chance of being selected next,” Welch said. MMA hour. “Who else would there be? Cory Sandhagen? Probably a little too soon for Ilya Topria. But it’s up to the UFC, but Merab will probably be the next most likely.
“I think that's fair. You've got to get over this guy. He won it, 10 in a row. I don't want him to keep fighting. Yes, I think that's fair.”
O'Malley, 29, made his first successful defense of the UFC bantamweight title by defeating Marlon Vera in five rounds at UFC 299 earlier this month.
Dvalishvili, 33, defeated Henry Cejudo at UFC 298 for his 10th consecutive win, tying the longest winning streak in UFC bantamweight history. Dvalishvili also has wins over Petr Yan, Jose Aldo and Marlon Moraes. Run.
O'Malley initially called out UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria after his revenge win over Vera, but he changed his mind a few days after UFC 299 and posted on social media that he wanted Dvalishvili next instead. . In the same message, O'Malley wrote, “2025 is going to be a legend,” a comment that echoed Dvalishvili and some fans who thought O'Malley was going to be sidelined for the remainder of 2024. This resulted in dissatisfaction from both sides.
talk MMA hour, Mr. Welch revealed that the 2025 comment was actually a bit of playful teasing, saying, “Let's make that kid a little more flustered,'' and that Mr. O'Malley was actually a bit of a playful teaser between September and November of this year. He said he is aiming to return at some point in the future. . Welch also admitted that he was more nervous about fighting Dvalishvili than he was about Berra.
“Merab is just an animal,” Welch said. “Any player who wins 10 games in a row has a certain amount of confidence in themselves, which is scary in itself, but his cardio is exceptionally high.” [good]. It's very scary. His 5 rounds of cardio is pretty scary, but I also know he's never faced an opponent like Shawn and he's going to be in a big cage and he's really excited . There's always a way for us to win. There are ways for us to lose the battle too. If we don't come that night, Sean shows up every time, but Merab is a problem. That's really true. But we have a way to win. ”
That said, Welch doesn't think Dvalishvili qualifies as the toughest test in the UFC bantamweight division. That test, he said, had already taken place against Aljamain Sterling, the man O'Malley took the belt from with a brutal second-round knockout.
“I think he was the biggest one,” Welch said. “He was a very big guy, very long, and an expert backtaker. He's not the type to really get carried away and beat your opponent. He tries to get past your guard and get up on you. We're going to force it like – now he's on your back for the rest of the round. Super strong, physical. I think Arjo was the most dangerous fight for us.
“Arjo's funkiness and length and what he's good at. But Merab is there, Merab is a big problem. Yeah, he's a scary, scary guy and he got Sean so excited about the fight and the challenge and It’s perfect because it also shuts everyone up.”
