Sean O’Malley reacts to ‘Terrified’ Merab Dvalishvili’s title shot offer to Petr Yan after UFC Macau

Former UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley is perplexed by Merab Dvalishvili’s latest attempt to exclude Umar Nurmagomedov.

Petr Yan defeated Deiveson Figueiredo in the UFC Macau main event on Saturday and afterward, called for a rematch with Merab Dvalishvili. It didn’t take long for Dvalishvili to answer Yan’s callout on his social media pages, pitching a potential March booking for their rematch.

Yan, a former titleholder, would skip Umar Nurmagomedov for the next title shot if the Dvalishvili rematch comes to fruition. Umar, the cousin of UFC Hall of Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov, seemed destined for a title shot after defeating Cory Sandhagen at UFC Abu Dhabi earlier this year.

But, Dvalishvili and Nurmagomedov have traded barbs on social media for months, with Nurmagomedov accusing Dvalishvili of ducking a fight. Nurmagomedov expressed his displeasure for Dvalishvili almost immediately after the current champion pitched the Yan rematch.

Sean O’Malley believes Dvalishvili’s dismissals of Nurmagomedov are calculated, especially after welcoming the Yan rematch following UFC Macau.

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Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLCSean O’Malley and coach Tim Welch react to Merab Dvalishvili’s latest anticsIn a recent episode of the TimboSugarShow podcast, O’Malley reacted to Dvalishvili’s latest dismissal of Nurmagomedov’s coveted title shot.

“Umar wants to fight Merab in January…Merab is absolutely s***ing himself terrified of Umar, he doesn’t want to fight Umar,” O’Malley said. “Now he wants to fight Petr, he wants to fight me…Petr got 50-45’d to Merab!”

O’Malley’s coach, Tim Welch, seemed to echo a similar sentiment.

“Think of how exciting and lit the division would be, if Merab wasn’t a part of it?” Welch said. “That’s no disrespect, the guy is really good at getting in those positions and getting through the fight. But man, it would be lit.”

O’Malley and Dvalishvili had a heated buildup to their UFC 306 clash with Dvalishvili threatening to assault Welch ahead of the event. Luckily, cooler heads seemed to prevail after their fight, but there remains some tension.

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Photos by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images, Chris Unger/Zuffa LLCMerab Dvalishvili continues to downplay Umar Nurmagomedov’s accoladesNurmagomedov is undefeated in his UFC tenure with recent victories over Raoni Barcelos, Bekzat Almakhan, and Sandhagen. He’s amassed an 18-0 professional record during his career.

Before defeating O’Malley at UFC 306, Dvalishvili earned recent wins over former titleholders Henry Cejudo and José Aldo. In his first fight with Yan, Dvalishvili attempted a UFC record 49 takedowns en route to a dominant unanimous decision victory.

O’Malley is eying a return to the Octagon in the first half of 2025, potentially in an immediate rematch with Dvalishvili. Before falling to Dvalishvili, O’Malley earned the belt by defeating Aljamain Sterling and defending it against Marlon Vera.

The UFC bantamweight division continues to fascinate, especially with the ongoing drama at the top of the heap. We’ll likely learn soon whether or not Dvalishvili will face Nurmagomedov, O’Malley, or Yan for his first title defense.

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