Dana White Called Out for Promoting ‘Weed-Smokers’ Sean O’Malley and Nate Diaz over Merab Dvalishvili

UFC veteran Al Iaquinta blames Dana White for promoting the wrong idols, such as Sean O'Malley and Nate Diaz, instead of Merab Dvalishvili.

Dana White Called Out for Promoting ‘Weed-Smokers’ Sean O’Malley and Nate Diaz over Merab Dvalishvili

UFC promotes the likes of Sean O'Malley and Nate Diaz and not humble fighters (via X)

Over the years, the UFC has promoted fighters with flamboyant personalities, turning them into megastars who draw global attention and sales. Conor McGregor, Nate Diaz, and Sean O’Malley became headline acts because of their charisma, attitude, and ability to stir controversy. Meanwhile, highly skilled fighters with quiet demeanors most often go unnoticed, receiving fewer opportunities despite their exceptional talent and consistent winning performances.

The current bantamweight champion, Merab Dvalishvili, is one of those fighters and recently proved it at UFC 316 by beating O’Malley. UFC veteran Al Iaquinta recently did a podcast with former UFC champion Aljamain Sterling and talked about the recent fight. During the conversation, the lightweight veteran shed light on UFC pushing fighters who are ruining the young minds of this generation.

UFC promotes the guy that smokes weed, and all these little kids are smoking weed and have pink hair. If UFC wanted to, UFC could change the freaking world. They could go, ‘Look at Merab, this doesn’t drink, he doesn’t smoke, he works hard. How many kids in the audience have pink hair? You could change the world for a better place if you could get behind this dude.

Diaz has famously smoked weed in interviews, breaking UFC’s rules and embracing his outlaw image. His blunt-smoking celebrations became iconic, shocking traditional MMA fans but Diaz didn’t care about fines or backlash. Fans loved his defiance, seeing him as MMA’s anti-hero. Even after retirement, he launched his own weed brand, ‘Game Up.’ Diaz turned his love for cannabis into a lifestyle brand.

His unapologetic stoner identity keeps him relevant beyond fighting, drawing young fans who admire authenticity. Like O’Malley’s wild hair, flashy personality, and luxurious lifestyle, unique branding hooks younger audiences who crave entertainment more. McGregor followed a similar path, using swagger and controversy to explode in popularity, though consequences followed his meteoric rise.

Iaquinta argues the UFC should guide their stars better, ensuring young fans aren’t misled by reckless fighter behavior or lifestyles. But Dana White, running a business, prioritizes fighters who sell themselves, even if controversy plays a bigger role than talent. However, cases like Merab Dvalishvili, Islam Makhachev, Georges St-Pierre are certainly exceptions.

UFC veteran reviews Merab Dvalishvili vs. Sean O’Malley at UFC 316

Going into UFC 316, Merab Dvalishvili was the fan favourite due to his incredible momentum and suffocating fighting style. However, Sean O’Malley was confident about getting his revenge and had made various changes in his lifestyle. He believed that he would knock out the ‘Machine’ and get back his title and become one of the best bantamweights of all time.

Merab Dvalishvili vs. Sean O'Malley review by UFC veteran
Merab Dvalishvili vs. Sean O’Malley review by UFC veteran (via X)

However, the reality was way different and O’Malley couldn’t do much about Dvalishvili’s relentless pace and ultimately lost via submission. In the new episode of the Good Guy/Bad Guy Show, UFC Hall of Famer Chael Sonnen discussed the fight. He gave credit to Dvalishvili but also talked about O’Malley’s performance and his future.

Sean went out there and fought great. He stopped those takedowns, found the straights up the middle, and started landing shots to the body with the teeps. Then he got caught in a nasty position. You have to tap. That’s the rules of the game. He fought better. He’s ranked number one, and he should be, he’s better than everybody else. But he’s got a problem with Merab.

With the win, Dvalishvili has become the pound-for-pound number two fighter in the UFC, only behind Islam Makhachev. He also joined the elite list of having 13 consecutive wins in UFC, consisting of Jon Jones, Georges St-Pierre, etc. However, given his recent performance, fans have no idea who is capable of beating Dvalishvili in the bantamweight division.