O’Malley: UFC 306 win over Dvalishvili proves ‘I’m as good as I say I am’

Even with the UFC bantamweight title wrapped around his waist, Sean O’Malley still doesn’t get the respect he feels he deserves from the fight community.

Fighters write “Suga” off as more of a social media personality than dedicated athlete. Fans believe he’ll get taken down and held down the moment he faces someone with decent wrestling. Not even beating Aljamain Sterling for the belt dissuaded anyone of that opinion. Sterling himself recently went on an X (formerly Twitter) rant saying O’Malley hadn’t really beaten anyone.

So it’s unsurprising that O’Malley is looking forward to silencing the doubters when he fights Aljo’s teammate and No. 1 ranked contender Merab Dvalishvili at Noche UFC on September 14th. “The Machine” is a wrestling powerhouse that blanked Henry Cejudo on the scorecards in his last fight, but “Suga” is unimpressed with what he’s seen.

“This fight is not going to go the way he thinks it’s going to go,” O’Malley said in an interview with UFC.com. “This fight is going to end brutal. The way he blitzes in, the ways he’s sloppy. He is slow. It is not going to end well for him. I do not understand where the confidence comes from. I know he’s beat a bunch of guys, but he’s never fought anyone like me.”

“I’ve heard so many people say he is the hardest fight in the division for me, and I disagree,” O’Malley said. “That’ll be sweet to be able to go out there and put his lights out. That’s a good feeling. People are going to be very, very surprised when I do it.”

People were definitely shocked when O’Malley timed a perfect counter to knock out Aljamain Sterling in their fight. If he can pull off another sniper job on Merab Dvalishvili, how can you deny he’s something special?

Everyone in the bantamweight division wants to get their hands on Sean O’Malley because they think he’s easy pickings. “Suga” wants to change that perception with his performance against Dvalishvili.

“I don’t think there’s going to be as many people calling me out,” he said. “If they are, it’s (reluctantly). Once I do what I’m going to do to Merab, people are going to realize I’m as good as I say I am.”

Sean O’Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili goes down September 14th in the main event of Riyadh Season Noche UFC, also known as UFC 306. Keep it locked to MMA Mania for all the breaking news leading up to the event and all the highlights and happenings from fight night.