Outside Source
Sean O’Malley is ready to put on a show in his rematch with Merab Dvalishvili—even if nobody is watching.
The UFC recently announced O’Malley is set to fight bantamweight champion Dvalishvili again in the main event of UFC 316 on June 7 in Newark, N.J. Dvalishvili defeated O’Malley to win the title this past September and went on to successfully defend it against undefeated challenger Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311, while O’Malley is yet to step into the octagon since his loss.
The immediate rematch has led to backlash from fans, many confused as to why O’Malley has been granted this opportunity after an uninspiring decision loss in their first meeting. O’Malley responded to the criticism on The Ariel Helwani Show, offering advice to anyone upset with the news.
“Don’t watch,” O’Malley said. “Saturday night, June 7, f*cking watch your reality TV show. Don’t watch the fight.”
O’Malley had previously called for an immediate rematch with Dvalishvili, though he also announced he required surgery and recovery time to deal with a shoulder injury. When the time came for him to fight again, O’Malley claims he wasn’t demanding of the matchmakers, though he made it clear he wanted a chance to avenge his loss to Dvalishvili, title or not.
“I’m very grateful for the UFC for giving me the rematch,” O’Malley said. “I didn’t really have much conversation with UFC. I did tell them that was really the only fight I was interested in. I wanted the belt back—it wasn’t even I wanted the belt back, I wanted Merab. I wanted that fight back and there wasn’t much negotiation there. It was kind of like, alright, let’s do it.”
According to O’Malley, his injury limited his ability to train for the fight, especially when it came to preparing his defense against Dvalishvili’s relentless grappling. O’Malley had previously defeated another grappling specialist to start his own title run when he knocked out Dvalishvili’s close friend and teammate Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292 (though Sterling’s wrestling was noticeably absent in that contest).
Dvalishvili handed O’Malley just the second loss of his career—the first came against bantamweight contender Marlon “Chito” Vera—and O’Malley refused to be brought down by the setback.
“There’s two ways you can go from taking a loss,” O’Malley said. “You can either go up or down and I wanted to go up. The camp, the whole fight didn’t go obviously as planned, but I feel like it’s going to make this one that much sweeter. I’m going to be a massive underdog. People aren’t going to expect what I know I’m capable of on June 7, so it’s going to make it that much sweeter.
“I had to wait three-and-a-half years, whatever it was, to prove that the first Chito fight wasn’t the way it was supposed to play out. This one, I didn’t have to wait nearly as long, but I’m excited to go out there and do something similar in the rematch with Merab.”
Importantly for O’Malley, he doesn’t feel he was outclassed by Dvalishvili in the first fight, at least not to a degree that he feels ruled out an immediate rematch. That said, he understands why there’s reluctance to accept him as the No. 1 contender right now.
Come fight night, he plans to show exactly why he’s getting his second chance so soon.
“That last fight, I don’t think a lot of people went and truly rewatched it because it’s not one of those fights that it’s super worth rewatching,” O’Malley said. “I do think the second time watching it, you realize it is a little bit closer than the first time you watched it live, but I don’t think many people rewatched it and they weren’t interested in rewatching it and their opinions are just going to kind of stay the same.
“Again, they’re not interested, don’t watch it. But when I go out there and win, I guarantee people are going to rewatch it or at least rewatch the finish if there’s a finish. Might be a five-round decision, could be a finish, we’ll see. I think at the end of the day, that Saturday rolls around, people are going to be talking about it.”
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Own the moment.
Neat!
Still the biggest upset.
18 years ago, one of the biggest upsets in MMA history!
Matt Serra knocked out Georges St-Pierre to become the UFC welterweight champion
He was a +850 underdog that night pic.twitter.com/ZIIGRX3QgQ
— MMA On Point (@OnPointMMA) April 7, 2025
Victory cigar.
This gym needs to be stopped.
Legendary.
Hero.
Kelvin Gastelum (19-9, 1 NC) vs. Joe Pyfer (13-3); UFC 316, June 7
Justin Tafa (7-5, 1 NC) vs. Jhonata Diniz (8-1); UFC 317, June 28
Fine, I won’t!
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This article first appeared at MMA Fighting – All Posts
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