UFC Bantamweight Champion Sean O'Malley sees a reason for upcoming opponent Merab Dvalishvili's most notable teammate actually rooting against the challenger this weekend.
O'Malley is set for his second assignment of 2024 on Saturday night. After headlining UFC 299 in Miami this past March, the 135-pound kingpin will put his gold on the line in the main event of Noche UFC.
"Sugar" has been tasked with topping the lineup for the promotion's celebration of Mexican Independence Day this year, which comes at a notably different venue in the form of Las Vegas' Sphere.
The Montana native is looking to close out a memorable night by stalling the title charge of Dvalishvili, who has won 10 straight to finally earn his first opportunity at reaching the bantamweight mountaintop.
O'Malley and his supporters will be expecting "The Machine" to fall short. And, according to the champ, Dvalishvili's own teammate may be hoping for the same fate...
O'Malley Has A Theory On Dvalishvili, Sterling Friendship
During a recent interview with TMZ Sports, O'Malley looked ahead to his second defense of the bantamweight title, which has seen his eyes remain on a member of the Serra-Longo Fight Team.
Talk of Sterling providing Dvalishvili with valuable insight into sharing the cage with "Sugar" has been a prominent topic in the lead-up to the Sept. 14 event.
However, given the manner of his defeat in Boston last year, O'Malley wouldn't be surprised if "Funk Master" is secretly rooting for the Georgian's failure in order to make his efforts against "Sugar" look better.
I mean, I don't know what Aljo's gonna tell Merab. Like, 'F*ck, he's fast, he's sharp, he's accurate, he's hard to take down. Good luck!' Like, there wasn't a lot of success Aljo had in that fight," O'Malley said. "If anything, Aljo probably shouldn't tell him anything because it's probably just gonna make him a little bit nervous.
Who knows, Aljo probably hopes I beat Merab. It makes Aljo look better," O'Malley continued. "I'm just curious if Merab was happy that I knocked out Aljo. If I didn't knock out Aljo, Merab still would be waiting around. So I have a little theory that maybe they're not as good buddies as we all thought.
Sterling is expected to be alongside the likes of Ray Longo with team Dvalishvili this weekend, hoping to get a cageside view of his friend and training partner's long-awaited crowning moment on MMA's biggest stage.
And when it comes to the venue for his first attempt at securing that, the Georgian likely couldn't have wished for a grander setting than the unique surroundings of the Sphere.
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