Relatively new UFC 135-pound champ Merab Dvalishvili had to toil hard to put his name on the board. The bantamweight champion has always told this repeatedly. As did friend Aljamain Sterling, who held the strap before him. After a dominant title defense at UFC 311, the Georgian is up for his dues and recognition. However, Sterling doesn’t think a rematch with common foe Sean O’Malley is the way to go.
Merab Dvalishvili won the 135-pound strap from Sean O’Malley at the last annual Noche UFC PPV event. The Georgian mean “Machine” won it in a pretty wrestle-heavy and decisive manner. Dvalishvili retained his gold outlasting previously unbeaten Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311. Prior to the fight, the UFC preferred O’Malley to get the next shot. Aljamain Sterling holds reservations about that fight.
In terms of the better paycheck potentially, especially where Merab is now in his career, I think it might be the rematch with O’Malley, …I just think, in my opinion, it’s just a hard fight to sell. You’re not selling me that O’Malley does anything differently other than hoping to catch him once in 25 minutes…I don’t know, maybe he goes out and tries to toe kick him in the first round or something.
Aljamain Sterling on on “The Ariel Helwani Show”
The only time Sean O’Malley displayed grappling capabilities has been under the 155lbs Advanced No-gi division of Grappling Industries Phoenix, and Quintet: Ultra. “Suga” Show flopped belly down six times at UFC 306. He was also controlled for more than 10 minutes in his lopsided loss to Merab Dvalishvili.
The only good thing Sean O’Malley has infamy for is his critical striking. The champ sees this as easy money and isn’t opposing this rematch. O’Malley landed 220 significant strikes at UFC 299. It’s the single-fight record for a UFC bantamweight championship bout and won him the 2024 Best ESPY Fighter award.
Given his strike-heavy attributes, Aljamain Sterling does not see any other change. However, as a prizefighter and a brand name, it’s one that makes sense. “Funk Master” finds another name a bit more funky, on a skills test level.
Aljamain Sterling: Petr Yan better name right now for the champ
Aljamain Sterling, KOed by O’Malley at UFC 292, doesn’t see “The Suga Show” as anything outside of landing a lucky punch. Merab Dvalishvili has proven a pure force of nature with his monster cardio. He has rag-dolled a handful of former champions and broken through the competition ceiling.
Aljamain Sterling has new name in mind for Merab Dvalishvili after UFC 311 (Source: X)Dvalishvili is a rare beast. His 79 takedowns in UFC bantamweight competition are the most in the division. He has also landed 2,092 total strikes in UFC bantamweight competition. Petr Yan (deterred his TD attempts) and Nurmagomedov at UFC 311 (nullified a few ground control attempts) are the toughest challenges yet. Hence, Aljo knows who to choose as the next challenge.
It’ll be a nice payday [with O’Malley], …I think it would be a really nice payday, [but] The toughest fight will probably be the Petr Yan rematch and probably the most deserving in terms of what has he done lately. O’Malley fought Yan, he took 10-and-a-half, maybe 11 months off, and these are all facts…[also] People talk about activity. … It’s just such a weird thing.
Aljamain Sterling further said
The bantamweight champ has been angling for a rematch with Yan even before his maiden defense of the strap. Yan recently won big at UFC Macau, defeating former champ Deiveson Figueiredo. The first target was Figgy, a former champ with far more ranked wins than the recent Nurmagomedov. But now Yan is the bigger and better fish.
Stay Updated!
Join our newsletter to receive exclusive updates and curated insights directly to your inbox.
