Amid speculation linking him to a featherweight title siege off the back of his one-sided victory over Marlon Vera earlier this month to defend his bantamweight crown at UFC 299, Sean O’Malley insists he will face-off with the surging, Merab Dvalishvili in his next outing at 135 pounds.
O’Malley, the current undisputed bantamweight champion, lodged his first successful defense of that title earlier this month in a heated rematch against Vera, avenging his sole professional loss in a lopsided judging win atop the UFC 299 card in their Florida re-run.
And immediately noting his interest in potentially pursuing a title a division higher at 145 pounds, O’Malley urged the promotion to field him against newly-crowned gold holder, Ilia Topuria in a trip to Spain – a call which was immediately shut down by UFC brass, Dana White to boot.