The UFC 316 has a lot riding on it. First things first, Sean O’Malley will look to settle scores for the heavy defeat he suffered at the hands of Merab Dvalishvili last year. Apart from that, the fight could also settle the 135-pound GOAT debate, once and for all.
O’Malley and Dvalishvili locked horns for the first time in September 2024 at UFC Noche for the bantamweight title fight. The fight had a lot of hype around it, which, unfortunately, did not live up to expectations.
Dvalishvili’s dominant win over O’Malley got off to an abrupt start as the Georgian got into a verbal spat with his opponent’s coach, Tim Welch. Referee Herb Dean quickly stopped the bout to instruct Dvalishvili to do his job, which was to fight in the Octagon.
Once that was out of the way, Dvalishvili asserted dominance for five straight rounds. From punches to clean takedowns to ground-and-pound, the challenger deployed it all.
O’Malley, meanwhile, only managed an occasional punch or a knee, all of which failed to faze Dvalishvili. In Round 5, the American fighter landed a couple of straight kicks to the abdomen that bothered the Georgian. However, it was too little, too late.
One would take O’Malley’s defeat with a grain of salt, though. That is because ‘Suga’ was nursing a hip injury prior to the fight. It was only after the fight that he got the opportunity to undergo surgery and rehabilitation. This is perhaps the reason why Chael Sonnen is of the opinion that UFC 316 will settle the 135-pound GOAT debate.
“Jon Anik comes out, and he said that Merab might already be the greatest 135-pounder ever. Because title defenses, it’s just, it’s not fair. Particularly when you look at all the world champions that he had to beat,” said Sonnen in an Instagram video.
Sonnen asserted that he was with O’Malley through and through, claiming that the way ‘Suga’ beat former bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292 a couple of years ago already cemented his place as a special fighter.
“Because Aljo was the best, I believe that O’Malley took that from him. If Merab has now got a hold of that, good for Merab,” Sonnen continued.
“Because if O’Malley does get over on him, I want us to acknowledge who the greatest bantamweight of all time was. And that is another thing that I believe is up for grabs this Saturday,” he concluded.
But as excited as Sonnen is and as much as he is willing to hype the fight, the ‘Bad Guy’ has a reputation for blowing things out of proportion.
Is O’Malley in the 135-pound GOAT debate?
There are no doubts about Dvalishvili’s credentials and why he deserves to be counted among the 135-pound weight class GOAT debate. He walks into the UFC 316 on the back of 12 consecutive wins. Among those he defeated on this run are José Aldo, Petr Yan, Umar Nurmagomedov, and, of course, Sean O’Malley.
However, his opponent, the Arizonian, does not carry that sort of opponent list. That is precisely why he needs to settle the score with Dvalishvili and catapult himself into the GOAT debate.
One thing is clear, though. Dvalishvili won’t find it as easy to defeat O’Malley as he did in September 2024. The challenger is no longer carrying an injury and has had a long enough break to rehabilitate.
Moreover, he has deployed some serious lifestyle changes to make him sharper, and holistically a better fighter in the Octagon.
“I don’t get on social media, and I feel like that’s changed my life. It’s only been three months, but I literally feel like it’s changed my life, and I feel like that’s going to play a role in my performance,” he said on the TimboSugarShow podcast.
“I haven’t j’d the peen (masturbated) once this year – not once in 2025,” O’Malley continued. “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.
Notably, O’Malley has also stopped smoking marijuana and is thus not overeating, which allows him to sleep well. However, it remains to be seen just how much of this is a gimmick and whether if any of it will actually aid him in stoppings Dvalishvili’s relentless takedown attempts.
