Injured Merab Dvalishvili challenges Sean O'Malley for UFC title showdown in December: "I'm gonna push through the pain"

Sean O'Malley was able to claim the UFC bantamweight title after defeating Aljamain Sterling via second-round TKO at UFC 292. Merab Dvalishvili, who is teammates with the latter and seemingly next in line for a title opportunity, shared that he will be ready to fight at UFC 296 in December.

Speaking to Aaron Bronsteter of TSN Sports, 'The Machine' was asked if he would be ready by December, responding:

"One thousand percent, I will be ready. I will be ready, yes. My hand is still - the doctor just told me I can start training. I can start slowly punching and grappling, but even fight, if it is next month, then I would be ready because I don't care. I'm just going to ignore the pain and I'm just going to fight. Definitely December I will be ready. If this fight will happen, I would love to fight him."

Dvalishvili shared a message for O'Malley as well, adding:

"Hey Sean, respect for you. You should rematch Aljo or you should fight me. You are good fighter and now you are champion and you should fight only for the best and me and Aljo, we are the best here in this division. Not somebody from outside the top five or not guys who coming from the loss. I have nine-fight win streak. Everybody knows I'm a real contender and Aljamain Sterling, he's a great champion and he deserves the rematch."

Check out Merab Dvalishvili's comments on facing Sean O'Malley below:

Dvalishvili added that himself and Sterling should be the only two opponents considered by O'Malley. He advised the bantamweight champion to respect himself and stop looking for easy matchups.

Sean O'Malley previously downplayed Merab Dvalishvili matchup

Sean O'Malley claimed the bantamweight title at UFC 292. Prior to his bout with Aljamain Sterling, however, 'Sugar' downplayed facing Merab Dvalishvili as his first title defense. Speaking at the media day for the event, he noted that a rematch with Marlon 'Chito' Vera is the bout he wants, stating:

"If you asked me what fight is bigger, me versus 'Chito' rematch, or me versus Merab? I'm pretty sure we could all agree on which one is bigger. I'm in the fight business. I've been saying that. I've never been afraid to say that. This is a business to me. Who makes more money, me versus Merab or me versus 'Chito?' It's very simple to me."

Check out Sean O'Malley's comments on his first title defense below (starting at the 12:34 mark):

It is unclear if Sean O'Malley will reconsider his stance, however, a bout with Dvalishvili or a rematch with Sterling both make more sense from a merit standpoint. While Vera won his last bout at UFC 292, he is the No.6-ranked bantamweight and was dominated in his previous bout.