Sean O’Malley believes ’emotional’ Merab Dvalishvili is insecure about Umar Nurmagomedov’s rise

UFC bantamweight champion Sean O'Malley talks about Merab Dvalishvili's attitude towards Umar Nurmagomedov.

Sean O’Malley believes ’emotional’ Merab Dvalishvili is insecure about Umar Nurmagomedov’s rise

Sean O'Malley mocks Merab Dvalishvili's mentality for reacting to Umar Nurmagomedov (via Imago)

Sean O’Malley will defend his UFC bantamweight title for the second time this Saturday against Merab Dvalishvili. Going into the fight night, the stakes are high, and everybody has given their predictions for the fight. O’Malley is highly confident about his skills and believes Dvalishvili is too emotional to be on such a big stage. 

Merab Dvalishvili didn’t like Umar Nurmagomedov‘s recent meteoric rise to the top contender position. The Georgian star believes the hype behind Nurmagomedov is only due to his connection with Khabib Nurmagomedov. Dvalishvili walked out of an interview when a reporter asked him about Nurmagomedov. According to O’Malley, these are the signs of being emotionally weak. 

Merab is very emotional and he's getting fired up and I have seen him walk off an interview when someone asked him if Umar would be next. I knew Merab will see it, me saying Umar’s more deserving than Merab and it's gonna f**** drive him crazy. 
Sean O’Malley via Daniel Cormier’s YouTube channel 
YouTube video

O’Malley accepted Nurmagomedov’s callout a few weeks ago and mentioned he’s looking forward to fighting a Dagestani.  As it turns out, that was a sneaky jibe towards Dvalishvili to frustrate the top challenger. ‘Suga’ mentioned that over the last few months, he has been successfully playing mind games and poking fun at Dvalishvili.

FS Video

Both the fighters have been pretty active with online skits. In fact, Dvalishvili has produced more skits to troll ‘Suga.’ However, things got heated after their first-ever photoshoot in front of the Las Vegas Sphere. As the rivalry continues to grow, both O’Malley and Dvalishvili are eager to get a knockout finish on fight night. 

RELATED
BMF champ exposes ‘one hole’ in UFC Noche headliner’s game ahead of Sean O’Malley fight
Max Holloway talks about the flaw in Merab Dvalishvili's game ahead of the Sean O'Malley fight

Sean O’Malley and Merab Dvalishvili argue over getting knockout finishes 

Knockout finishes are always fun to watch. Doing it in the main event of a grand event like Noche UFC would be a massive highlight. Sean O’Malley is well known for his knockout power and has repeatedly claimed to be getting one this Saturday. 

Sean O'Malley and Merab Dvalishvili
Sean O’Malley and Merab Dvalishvili (via X)

Merab Dvalishvili is known for his ground game and cardio and is expected to take a wrestling-heavy approach. The challenger is hyped and believes he can finish O’Malley with his striking.

RELATED
UFC executive names 3 things from Noche UFC spectacle to keep for future Fight Nights and PPVs
UFC Exec wants to draw inspirations from UFC 306 Noche event

During their recent press conference, Dvalishvili made fun of O’Malley’s claims of getting a KO. In fact, the Georgian fighter referenced his fighting career to prove a point.

Keep dreaming. Nobody knock me out yet. Nobody. Keep dreaming, Sean O’Malley. You didn’t knock out Chito Vera.
Merab Dvalishvili via UFC 306 pre-fight press conference 
RELATED
PFL icon presents Spaniard Ilia Topuria as ‘bigger star’ than Sean O’Malley before UFC 306 headliner
PFL icon says Ilia Topuria is 'bigger star' than Sean O'Malley ahead of UFC 306 Noche card

‘Suga’ was quick and reminded Dvalishvili that he had knocked out Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292, with intentions to hurt Dvalishvili. Aljamain Sterling and Dvalishvili are close friends and the Georgian claimed that the fight was an early stoppage and O’Malley got lucky. As such, the Georgian star will have the chance to take revenge at the Noche UFC main event.