Merab Dvalishvili expected a different Sean O'Malley at UFC 316 after ex-champ 'made so many excuses'
Merab Dvalishvili might be unstoppable in the UFC bantamweight division.
After arguably the greatest performance of his career this past Saturday, the reigning UFC champ now rides a 13-fight win streak, tied for the fourth-longest in promotional history. Dvalishvili's rematch with Sean O'Malley at UFC 316 had the New Jersey crowd on its feet for as long as the action lasted inside Newark's Prudential Center, with former titleholder O'Malley succumbing to a third-round north-south choke after previously losing a unanimous decision in their first encounter this past September.
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O'Malley spoke ahead of UFC 316 about how hindered he was by injuries in the first fight, and he performed admirably in the rematch despite being finished. Appearing on Monday's edition of "The Ariel Helwani Show," Dvalishvili shared how he, too, approached the second fight differently.
"I wanted to do way better than first time," he said. "When I was fighting Sean the first time for the belt, I wanted to just win the belt and take less risk because I know I was winning. I sometimes don't risk it because I just want to win. I wanted to do better [at UFC 316] because I was facing the same opponent.
'Also, Sean made so many excuses, and I was thinking that he really may become a different person. He was way better than the first time, but because it was a rematch, I was supposed to do something extra.
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'[O'Malley's] takedown defense was much better. He also already knew my style. ... He was doing much better footwork, and he fixed the mistakes that he made in the first fight. He fixed those things, but I got much better from the last fight and I fixed that too."
Dvalishvili, 34, already has two successful title defenses under his belt in 2025 as the UFC's 135-pound king and is beginning to clear out the division. While some complained that the rematch felt somewhat rushed as O'Malley hadn't competed since his title loss, stronger alternatives weren't readily available.
In the time since, however, top contenders like Cory Sandhagen have established themselves with equally impressive performances to regain steam. With Sandhagen in attendance at UFC 316, the two shared a friendly moment backstage, which according to Dvalishvili was mostly him applauding Sandhagen's recent comedic posts on social media and reiterating that he's happy to fight "The Sandman" next.
'He's beaten a lot of good guys, like Song Yadong, [Marlon] 'Chito' Vera, close fight with [Petr] Yan," Dvalishvili said.
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"He's a new style. We've never fought each other, and we know there is no MMA math. The style makes the fight, and Cory, he's a different style. It will be a test for me. I think Yan has a fight with somebody else [booked], and yeah, I don't see [anyone else] off the top of my head. Mario Bautista looks very good as well."
As we hit the midway point of 2025, a handful of dominant champions exist in the UFC. Directly below Dvalishvili in the divisional ladder is current flyweight titleholder and Uncrowned's No. 4 ranked pound-for-pound fighter Alexandre Pantoja, who seeks his fourth belt defense on June 28 at UFC 317 when he takes on Kai Kara-France. The fight won't be an official rematch, but Pantoja and Kara-France did collide during their run on "The Ultimate Fighter 24" in 2016, with Pantoja winning a two-round exhibition.
Should Pantoja get past Kara-France, the Brazilian champion will have further cleaned out the 125-pound division, making a potential superfight at bantamweight all the more enticing. The matchup hasn't been overly discussed from either party, but Dvalishvili wouldn't be opposed to it should the time come.
"If he will move up in my weight class and UFC is interested in that, no problem," Dvalishvili said of fighting Pantoja. "That would be a fight I'm sure a lot of people will be interested in. No problem.
'I respect Pantoja. Pantoja will be a tough opponent for me. If Pantoja wants this and if the UFC wants this, I have no problem with that."
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