The lead-up to Sean O'Malley and Merab Dvalishvili's UFC 306/Noche UFC headliner at the Sphere in September looks set to be a heated one.
Mixed martial arts' premier organization will stage its second celebration of Mexican Independence Day on September 14. Las Vegas is once again the host venue, but the Octagon will be in significantly different surroundings this time around.
Instead of the T-Mobile Arena, the 2024 edition of Noche UFC will take place inside the unique Sphere venue. For months now, UFC CEO Dana White has promised a sporting spectacle like nothing seen before.
Tasked with delivering on that with blockbuster action inside the cage are headliners O'Malley and Dvalishvili, who will collide with the former's bantamweight championship on the line in the main event.
The pair have long gone back and forth over their matchup, and that trend shows no sign of waning as UFC 306 approaches...
O'Malley, Dvalishvili Trade Barbs Over Coach Altercation
"Sugar" and his Georgian challenger recently shared the same space to complete a promotional shoot for the highly anticipated Sphere show.
Unsurprisingly, things threatened to boil over. And as O'Malley and Dvalishvili exchanged words, their fellow UFC 306 fighter Alexa Grasso reveled in the tension...
The point of discussion appeared to surround an altercation between Dvalishvili and O'Malley's head coach Tim Welch back in May. The incident also involved Aljamain Sterling, who had accused the trainer of heckling him from the corner during his title defeat to "Sugar" last August.
I will smash O’Malley inside the cage and then smash his coach outside of the cage,” Dvalishvili said.
O'Malley told his upcoming opponent to follow through on his threats.
If you have a problem with him, you can take it up with him. He’ll fight you. If that’s what you want. After the fight, you should definitely try to smack his face. You should definitely try that. That would be funny. You should try that.
When Dvalishvili said he was hoping to catch up with Welch on the streets, O'Malley once again welcomed that possiblity.
You could street fight him. I’d love to see that. You want to die? Is that what you’re saying? He’ll kill you.