Former bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley is set to reclaim his title from Merab Dvalishvili, and he promises to deliver a stellar performance this time.
The rematch was announced on Tuesday by UFC CEO Dana White, but it was met with backlash from many in the MMA community, who believe “Suga” doesn’t deserve a title shot after being inactive since losing his fight. Meanwhile, Dvalishvili has successfully defended his title against Umar Nurmagomedov.
“The rematch is official,” O’Malley said on his YouTube channel. “‘Suga’ Sean vs. Merab 2 is happening, and I don’t think people are going to be too happy about it.
“The last time I fought the best bantamweight in the world—the best bantamweight at the time [Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292]—I got the job done. I’m very confident in my skills. Last camp, we had some issues going on. I don’t want to sit here and make excuses. We had a great camp. I showed up, I was in shape, and we did what we could with what we had. This camp has already been a lot different, and I’m feeling good. I’m excited to go out there and take care of business.”
After his fight with Dvalishvili, O’Malley suffered a hip injury and had to undergo surgery. Following the procedure, he took a hiatus from the cage, but he recently revealed that he is in training camp for the rematch and plans on proving himself.
“Last fight camp, every single journal entry was like, ‘My groin kept me up at night’ because I tore my labrum 10 weeks before the fight,” O’Malley said. “I tore my groin labrum, and I was having serious groin pain. It wasn’t ideal. I was able to train and tough through it, but obviously, it’s not ideal to go into a fight—especially against a f*cking murderer—well, not a murderer, but a stud, an absolute machine [like Merab]. …
“If I can just keep up this pace—how we’ve been training the last few weeks—all the way up to the fight, I’m going to be 70 percent better than I was in that first fight. I’ll be significantly more mobile, agile, and in better shape. I’m going to fight at my full potential. Whereas in my last fight, I was happy with how I performed considering how I felt. The outcome wasn’t ideal—I didn’t win—but I also think I wasn’t supposed to win. This rematch was meant to happen. It’s going to make this win that much more special.”
