Sean O’Malley is determined to reclaim his place on the UFC’s bantamweight throne.
The former champion, one of the UFC’s top stars, is coming off a decision loss to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306 last September, a setback that ended a three-fight winning streak that included capturing and defending the bantamweight title.
“Suga” was largely outgrappled by Dvalishvili inside the Sphere but showed flashes of his striking prowess, including a body kick that hurt the Georgian late in the fight. Now, O’Malley is already eyeing a path back to the title.
Speaking at a pre-fight press conference ahead of RIZIN 49, O’Malley expressed his hopes for a rematch with Dvalishvili, who is set to defend the bantamweight title against undefeated rising star Umar Nurmagomedov on Jan. 18.
“Ideally, Merab beats Umar and I get the rematch,” O’Malley said. “But if Umar wins, it’ll be Umar. That’s what I want next: a title fight. Hopefully mid-next year. So, the winner of that one. That fight’s coming up very, very soon.”
