Newark, NJ — After a controversial build up to his fight with Umar Nurmagomedov, UFC bantamweight champ Merab Dvalishvili is happy to get back to business as usual as he enters a headlining stint at UFC 316 this weekend.
That may come as something of a surprise, given it’s a rematch with the usually talkative Sean O’Malley that arrives this Saturday. Yet O’Malley has taken a respectful tone, quite the opposite of Nurmagomedov, who the champ found insulting ahead of their match-up in January.
“I don’t like how they asked me and I don’t like how Umar was asking [for the title shot], but of course the UFC, I said yes, I was ready for a fight,” Dvalishvili recalled during Wednesday’s UFC 316 media day. “Since then there was no drama, and everything’s good.”
Dvalishvili became the first to defeat Umar in his first title defense, looking strong against the cousin of UFC Hall of Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov. Now, it’s on to the second fight with O’Malley, one that has been essentially drama-free in the build-up.
“Most important is, just show up fight day and then fight. We’re not here to have drama if it’s not organic, if it’s not real,” noted Georgia’s Dvalishvili. It’s a match-up the champ likes, noting that with Cory Sandhagen just coming off a win, and Petr Yan fighting elsewhere (against Marcus McGhee), “O’Malley is best deserving contender for now.”
O’Malley is now calling Merab Dvalishvili the greatest bantamweight champ ever. “I guess me and Shawn, that’s what the UFC wanted to book and of course I was ready for whoever. And yeah, this is cool, just respect each other. I respect him as a fighter, so it’s nice to hear from him, respect for me too.”
Yet that having been said, there’s a part of Merab that wishes O’Malley was still talking trash, if only to help promote the fight. “To be honest I’d rather he was still talking trash, it would be so much better. But it’s all good. This is good, how this fight was built.”
The rematch comes in the wake of O’Malley revealing he had a torn labrum going into their September pairing at UFC 306, when Dvalishvili dethroned him to claim 135lb gold. The current champ is looking forward to a win that will not come with any asterisks. “This fight will be much better, because this time, no excuse. I got much better, and I’m going to look for a finish.”
Watch the full UFC 316 media day appearance by Merab Dvalishvili above.
