UFC bantamweight contender Merab Dvalishvili isn't about to let Sean O'Malley forget about the time he donned the champion's jacket.
A matchup a long time in the making will go down this weekend, as O'Malley puts his gold on the line against Dvalishvili in the main event of the Noche UFC (UFC 306) pay-per-view event inside the Sphere.
To earn his long-awaited first shot at title glory at the promotion's second annual celebration of Mexican Independence Day, the Georgian challenger has won 10 straight, most recently at the expense of Henry Cejudo this past February.
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Both Dvalishvili and O'Malley were in attendance for Cejudo's previous outing, which came against "The Machine's" teammate Aljamain Sterling in Newark last year. After the then-champ defeated "Triple C," he faced off with "Sugar" inside the Octagon.
While the attention was expected to be on those two, Dvalishvili stole headlines by putting O'Malley's red jacket on and vaulting the Octagon wall.
If the Montana native's "defense" of his jacket is anything to go by, Dvalishvili has no doubt about who will exit the Sphere with the bantamweight title in their possession this weekend...
Dvalishvili Recalls O'Malley Jacket Incident: 'What Kind Of Man Is He?
During a recent interview for UFC.com, Dvalishvili looked ahead to his opportunity to unseat O'Malley from the throne and avenge his friend and training partner's defeat in Boston 13 months ago.
The Georgian was quick to run with the jacket story soon after the May 2023 PPV event, even obtaining a replica and claiming to have stole O'Malley's clothing item.
That trend has unsurprisingly continued during Noche UFC fight week, with the challenger linking his ability to don O'Malley's jacket with his plan to have his championship belt wrapped around him next.
I want to take his belt now," Dvalishvili said. "I already took his jacket. I have a question for you. He can’t even defend his jacket, how’s he going to defend his belt?
He give me jacket first, and then after he was crying. What kind of man he is? When you give somebody something, you should not cry and take back. Especially, he was crying in front of boss," Dvalishvili added.
Given the pair's previous in-person interactions, fans can perhaps expect some heat between the two when they take to the stage for Thursday's press conference and Friday's ceremonial weigh-ins.
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