"He was very smart against Aljo" - Merab Dvalishvili shares prediction for potential Sean O'Malley title fight 

Merab Dvalishvili recently shared his thoughts on a potential title matchup with current UFC bantamweight champion Sean O'Malley.

Dvalishvili has been eyeing a fight against O'Malley since the latter defeated his longtime friend and training partner, Aljamain Sterling, at UFC 292 last year. 'Sugar' knocked out Sterling in the second round to become the new UFC bantamweight champion.

In a recent interview with MMA Junkie following O'Malley's first title defense, Dvalishvili gave his take on how a potential fight against the champion will play out:

''I take this fight as a big challenge. I respect O'Malley as a good fighter, he's dangerous. I want to fight him last six seven years because I see the danger, I see a good, popular fighter and I don't look this fight easy, I just want to challenge myself.''

'The Machine' then shared his prediction, adding:

"I'm not going to say I will beat him easy or something. It's going to be tough fight."

Dvalishvili also pointed out O'Malley's strategy against Sterling, saying:

''We all see, he was very smart against Aljo, he was running. He lost the first round but he was waiting for his moment.''

Check out Merab Dvalishvili's comments below (12:31):

Dvalishvili was also bothered by O'Malley's choice to ignore him when he demanded a champion versus champion bout with newly crowned featherweight champion Ilia Topuria. Thus, the Georgian naturally confronted O'Malley behind the scenes.

Check out Merab Dvalishvili's awkward interaction with Sean O'Malley below:

O'Malley defeated Marlon 'Chito' Vera at UFC 299 by unanimous decision with a dominant performance over five rounds to retain his bantamweight title.

Check out the post below:

Meanwhile, Dvalishvili is coming off an impressive win against former bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo at UFC 298. He extended his winning streak to ten fights via a unanimous decision victory, firmly putting himself in the title mix.

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Merab Dvalishvili on the top contenders in the bantamweight division

Merab Dvalishvili recently opened up about the most deserving fighters in the bantamweight division.

In an interview with The Schmo, Dvalishvili discussed who, in his opinion, is the frontrunner for the 135-pound belt. Touching on former interim title challenger Cory Sandhagen and undefeated phenom Umar Nurmagomedov, 'The Machine' said:

''Why is Umar fighting Sandhagen, why he's not fighting Mario Bautista or somebody else? Umar, he don't fight nobody from top 15, he don't fight nobody from top five. Sandhagen, he's been in top 10 long time.''

Dvalishvili added:

''Sandhagen is most deserving fighter if you ask me. He should fight the winner of me and O'Malley.''

Check out Merab Dvalishvili's comments below (6:15):