"That's my problem with you champ" - Sean O'Malley wanting to move up to featherweight but with a catch doesn't sit well with top bantamweight

Sean O'Malley's healthy respect for Alexander Volkanovski’s fighting skills did not resonate well with his divisional rival. Becoming a multi-division champion is an appealing prospect from the financial and competitive aspects of the sport.

The newly crowned UFC bantamweight champion is harboring the ambition to conquer the featherweight division in the future. However, he is willing to wait until the reigning 145-pound king Alexander Volkanovski retires or moves up to the lightweight division.

O’Malley’s statement did not sit well with No.2-ranked bantamweight contender Merab Dvalishvili. The Georgian fighter expressed his thoughts on X (formerly Twitter) while replying to ESPN MMA’s post. He wrote:

“That's my problem with you champ. You avoid the top contenders .. fights that are real [Thumbs down emoji].”

Merab Dvalishvili and Sean O'Malley have been on a collision course since the Georgian's entry into the top five. Many consider the 'The Machine's' relentless grappling-heavy fighting style as a difficult challenge for ‘Sugar’s' stand-up game.

O’Malley defeated Dvalishvili’s close friend and teammate Aljamain Sterling to win the UFC bantamweight title at UFC 292. While it would be a perfect opportunity for Dvalishvili to exact revenge by taking on O'Malley, things have been a little complicated.

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Dana White is not happy with Merab Dvalishvili's stance on Sean O'Malley fight

In spite of being in the same division, former bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling and Merab Dvalishvili have refused to fight each other due to their personal relationship. Recently, Dvalishvili stated that he will keep himself out of the title picture until Sterling gets a rematch against Sean O'Malley.

UFC CEO Dana White is not happy with the complications caused by the top bantamweights’ personal equation. While speaking to reporters during a recent 'Dana White's Contender Series' press conference, he expressed his frustration at Dvalishvili's stance on Sean O'Malley:

"I hate it, and why did you even get into this sport if that's your mentality and the way you think? 'I don't even want the title, I don't even want the championship. We're friends, we're this, we're that.' You can be friends with everybody in this business, there's a lot of nice people in this business, a lot of good people."

White added:

This is not about friendship, this is about finding out who the best in the world is. And if you don't want to find out who the best in the world is, this is not the place for you. You should be somewhere else, there's plenty of places to fight where they don't give a s**t what you do."

Watch Dana White make the statement from the 10:50 mark of the video below: