UFC bantamweight Merab Dvalishvili wants to go back to finish off Sean O’Malley once and for all. The pair fought at the historic UFC 306 on a lackluster night for ‘Suga’ that saw the Georgian capitalize and win the title for himself. However, following the fight, O’Malley has been going off about how he had actually won. So now, Merab is actually granting him a rematch.
While fans have been asking ‘The Machine’ to take on Umar Nurmagomedov next since he’s the biggest threat in the division, it doesn’t seem like the Georgian is too keen on fighting the Dagestani.
In a recent tweet, Merab revealed his plans for the future and spoke about how O’Malley messaged him on Instagram,
“He is so sure he won the fight that I wanna show him I will beat him again and again. I was gonna give him a quick turnaround in NY. I’m not ducking Umar – after the rematch I will fight him or anyone else UFC puts in front of me.”
O’Malley DM’d me
this past Tuesday – Push for the rematch. He is so sure he won the fight that I wanna show him I will beat him again and again. I was gonna give him a quick turnaround in NY. I’m not ducking Umar – after the rematch I will fight him or anyone else UFC puts in…— Merab “The Machine” Dvalishvili (@MerabDvalishvil) September 27, 2024
But, here’s where things get tricky. O’Malley has a hip surgery scheduled for some time in October and will be out of action for at least 6-9 months.
So ‘The Machine‘ is now posed with another problem. He will either have to wait and be inactive for the next 7 to 9 months, or he can defend his belt against Umar in the meantime.
And since that’s something he doesn’t want to do, O’Malley has asked him do exactly that, fight the ‘Young Eagle’.
‘Fight Umnar’, says O’Malley
Sean O’Malley seems to have put Merab Dvalishvili in an awkward position. He allegedly first messaged the champ asking him to push for the rematch, then when the champ obliged he seems to have turned his back on him.
It is common knowledge now that ‘Suga‘ is undergoing surgery soon and will be out for more than half a year. So he made a simple suggestion to the champ,
“Getting surgery Oct 3rd. Fought you with one hip and still beat you. Round 1,3,5 . I’m the champ. Fight Umnar.”
Getting surgery Oct 3rd. Fought you with one hip and still beat you. Round 1,3,5 . I’m the champ. Fight Umnar.
— Sean O’Malley (@SugaSeanMMA) September 27, 2024
Umar is a rather simple name. It’s not that difficult to spell. Perhaps its the w**d that does the tweeting for O’Malley. But whatever it is, it seems to be working. Because now, Merab has been caught between a rock and a hard place.
The ‘Young Eagle’ himself has been calling out for the title shot after winning the #2 spot in the division. However, ‘The Machine’ has been very vocal in the past about how the Dagestani fighter does not deserve the title shot, which is why fans are now accusing him of ‘ducking’ Nurmagomedov.
And now with the O’Malley rematch call out, it looks like those accusations have been rooted in some truth.
