Former UFC bantamweight champion Sean O'Malley hasn't been impressed with the actions of Merab Dvalishvili since he ascended to the throne this past September.
Dvalishvili achieved his title ambitions on MMA's biggest stage inside the unique surroundings of the Sphere, where he comfortably got the better of O'Malley across five rounds.
In attendance was Umar Nurmagomedov, the consensus number one contender who staked his claim for a shot against the Noche UFC main event winner when he defeated Cory Sandhagen in Abu Dhabi the previous month.
But the Dagestani hasn't been getting a positive response from the champ ever since, with "The Machine" instead first branding Deiveson Figueiredo a more worthy challenger before pitching dates to run it back with both O'Malley and Petr Yan.
The latter caught Dvalishvili's attention when he outpointed Figueiredo in this past weekend's UFC Macau main event. The Georgian has called for "No Mercy" to be the opponent in his first defense at UFC 313 next March.
During a recent episode of his TimboSugarShow alongside coach Tim Welch, O'Malley joined plenty in calling out Dvalishvili's push to once again face Yan, whom he convincingly defeated across five rounds in March 2023.
"Sugar" echoed the sentiments of Nurmagomedov himself, branding the newly crowned bantamweight kingpin "terrified" of him.
Umar wants to fight Merab in January. Petr wants to fight Merab in March. I want to fight Merab in April," O'Malley said. "Merab is absolutely sh*tting himself terrified of Umar. He doesn’t want to fight Umar. Now he’s saying he wants to fight Petr. He wanted to fight me. Petr got 50-45’d to Merab.
It remains to be seen whether or not Nurmagomedov will indeed get his shot next. Be it a title opportunity or clash against another contender, the Dagestani has insisted on a return to action before he observes Ramadan in 2025.
O'Malley, meanwhile, has made his intentions of pursuing redemption against Dvalishvili upon his recovery from labrum surgery next year clear.
For now, though, the Georgian continues to campaign for a second dance opposite Yan.
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