In a stark contrast from his incoming foe, Sean O’Malley — UFC 316 headliner, Merab Dvalishvili has a strict no girls allowed policy in effect before his title fight return next weekend.
Dvalishvili, who features for the second time since January, most recently co-headlined UFC 311 in a one-sided decision win over Russian rival, Umar Nurmagomedov. With his victory, Dvalishvili would defend his bantamweight crown for the first time. And to boot, hand Nurmagomedov his first-ever combat sports defeat.
Initially winning the bantamweight belt back in September of last year, Dvalishvili would turn in a hard-fought unanimous judging win over O’Malley — setting up their title do-over at UFC 316 next weekend in New Jersey.
And while Montana striker, O’Malley, has been vocal about his open marriage with Dayna Gonzalez — which appears to favor him when it comes to the openness more than her– Dvalishvili has a strict rule he abides by.
Taking a page from the Rocky movie — in which Balboa’s head trainer, Mickey, warns his star that “women weaken legs” — Dvalishvili has refrained from intimacy before his fights, in a bid to be as sharp as possible.
And ahead of UFC 315, Dvalishvili has not diverted his course — claiming he is “staying away” from girls ahead of his championship re-run with O’Malley.
“So I try to one week stop everything, you know, like just be hungry man,” Merab Dvalishvili told on the Overdogs Podcast. “You know, I can’t wait, like old school style,” he added eagerly.
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“Like I stop eating, and the last two days I don’t drink,” Dvalishvili said, comparing his ‘sacrifice’ to cutting weight before a fight.
“I don’t do water load because I need one week to make weight. So that’s why I stay away from the girls. I try one week, not two. So, at least like four or five days, nothing because I’m cutting weight. And when I make weight Friday, I don’t want to, yeah, it’s only one day. It’s mentally, yeah, exactly. I just want to focus and yeah, that’s it,” the bantamweight champion noted.
O’Malley cuts out bad habits pre-UFC 316
Sidelined since his loss to Georgian star Dvalishvili at last year’s UFC Noche, O’Malley has made some notable changes to his training preparation ahead of his return next weekend.
Abstaining from masturbation as candidly admitted, the striker has also confirmed he is not consuming weed in any sort of facet ahead of UFC 316.
Furthermore, his usual active, heavy approach to promotion on social media through his channels has also been rather limited.
“I haven’t j’d the peen once this year – not once in 2025,” O’Malley said.
“And I haven’t gamed, either. I quit gaming. I did a lot of gaming, two or three hours a day, and I need to fill it with something. We’ve been playing a lot of Texas Hold ‘Em poker with the fellas. It’s been too fun. It’s like gaming. You say, ‘One more hand.'” O’Malley has claimed.
