Sean O’Malley is getting a do-over against Merab Dvalishvili.
That might seem like a “stupid” idea after O’Malley was dominated in their first fight atop the “Noche” lineup last fall inside Sphere. But that’s because most fans don’t realize O’Malley was supposed to lose their first go-round in order to set up a high-stakes rematch.
The fans demanded it, according to UFC CEO Dana White.
“The rematch is official, ‘Suga’ Sean vs. Merab 2 is happening, and I don’t think people are gonna be too happy about it,” O’Malley said on YouTube. “The last time I fought the best bantamweight in the world, or the best bantamweight at the time, we got the job done. I’m very confident in my skills, last camp, we had some sh*t going on, I don’t want to sit here and make excuses. We had a great camp, we showed up, I was in shape we did what we could. This camp has already been a lot different, and I’m feeling good. So, super excited to be able to go out there and take care of business. I feel like a lot of things I’ve made change-wise in my life are gonna attribute to my performance.”
One of those changes includes his retirement from social media, a decision that O’Malley claims “changed his life.” The former champion will also be injury free for his UFC 316 rematch at UFC 316 on June 7 in Newark, thanks to a recent surgery that corrected damage suffered to his hips and groin.
“I don’t want to jinx it but if I can just keep this pace up, how we’ve been able to train these last few weeks all the way up until the fight, I’m going to be 70-percent better than I was in that first fight,” O’Malley continued. “I am going to be significantly more mobile, agile, better shape, I’m gonna fight at my full potential. That last fight, I was very happy to perform considering how I felt. It wasn’t ideal, the outcome, I didn’t win, but I also think I wasn’t supposed to win. This rematch was supposed to happen to make this win that much more crazy. If I would have beat Merab the first time, Merab was still considered like a stud, but now he’s like, ‘damn, he beat me, he beat Umar.’ I’ll forever be grateful for Merab in that sense, he beat me and made me become — not just a better fighter — a better person.”
That may explain this unlikely truce ahead of their five-round redux.
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
