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Top-ranked UFC bantamweight contender Merab Dvalishvili's gameplan in most fights has measured up to the prevailing understanding that he likes to play to his strengths. This time around though, in his potential title shot against Sean O'Malley, the Georgian-American wants to flip the script and take the road less traveled.
Dvalishvili has cemented his stake as the leading prospect for the bantamweight title shot with 10 straight victories. 'The Machine,' during his visit to India, confirmed on the UFC India show that he will fight O'Malley at UFC 306 on September 14th at The Sphere in Las Vegas. However, the organization has yet to release an official announcement for the encounter.
Most recently, Dvalishvili joined Michael Bisping and Anthony Smith on the Believe You Me podcast to preview the impending showdown. Bisping questioned the 33-year-old about his gameplan for the fight.
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Dvalishvili, who's forged a reputation as one of the best grapplers in the sport today, asserted that he would put his striking skills to the test against O'Malley and prove to everyone that he's equally accomplished in that department. He said:
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"What’s gonna happen is now I’m gonna show everybody my striking. Yeah, I have wrestling, but now I wanna prove my striking. And I want to go punch his face because he thinks I’m gonna wrestle him. No, I’m gonna punch.”
However, Bisping and Smith weren't quite sold on Dvalishvili's assertion. Smith said:
“I don’t believe you.”
Meanwhile, Bisping replied:
“Thank you. I was gonna say, Merab you are full of sh*t.”
Check out the interaction below:
Will Sean O'Malley fight Ilia Topuria after the Merab Dvalishvili fight?
UFC bantamweight champion Sean O'Malley aspires to be a two-division UFC champion. However, he has to get past Merab Dvalishvili first, who in all certainty will be his next challenger to the throne.
'Suga' has been entertaining the idea of a jump to the featherweight division for quite some time now. Initially, he steered clear from the division since Alexander Volkanovski was the long-reigning champion. However, O'Malley fancies his chances against the current title holder Ilia Topuria. He called him out following the victory over Marlon Vera at UFC 299.
The pair got into an exchange on X recently when O'Malley questioned Topuria's holding on the pound-for-pound ladder. Speaking about the exchange on his YouTube channel, O'Malley stated:
"Ilia's gonna be the next Cody Garbrandt... He had his little Dominick Cruz performance, he's about to get pieced up by Max Holloway and then go downhill from there. Not really, I feel like Ilia's one of the most skilled guys actually in the UFC. But f*** Ilia."
Check out the video below:
