Sean O’Malley and Merab Dvalishvili go back-and-forth after 'The Machine' asks for a tip for being 'Sugar's 'coat boy'

The most memorable moment at last night's UFC 288 was arguably the staredown between Aljamain Sterling and Sean O’Malley, which took place following 'Funk Master's bantamweight title defense against Henry Cejudo.

Sterling called out ‘Sugar’ for his next UFC bantamweight title defense, and it’s likely that the clash will go down at some point later in 2023.

However, what didn’t go amiss was the fact that as O’Malley stepped into the octagon to stare down ‘The Funk Master’, the flashy red jacket he removed for the staredown was immediately collected and put on by Merab Dvalishvili.

‘The Machine’, a good friend and training partner of Sterling, then posed in the jacket, almost stealing the show in his own right. O’Malley was quick to tweet about this, labeling Dvalishvili a “coat boy”, and now, the two men have gone back and forth on the social media platform.

In a tongue-in-cheek post, Dvalishvili stated that if he were a coat boy, he would deserve a tip.

“@SugaSeanMMA First...you gave me your jacket and I thank you for the gift. But then you cried for me to give it back and called me coat boy...if I am the coat boy...WHERE’S MY TIP??”

O’Malley was, unsurprisingly, quick to retort.

“Where’s your Venmo I’ll send you 20...actually 15 it smelt weird as f*ck after I got it back.”

Remarkably, despite O’Malley staring Sterling down, Dana White has suggested that Dvalishvili could steal the next bantamweight title shot – if he’ll switch his stance on never fighting ‘The Funk Master’.

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Sean O’Malley vs. Aljamain Sterling: When will the fight happen?

After their staredown at UFC 288 last night, there’s little doubt that the next bantamweight title fight will see Aljamain Sterling face off with Sean O’Malley. The big question is now where and when the fight will take place, and recent reports suggest that Dana White has come to a decision on this.

According to White, he’d like to see Sterling defend against ‘Sugar’ at UFC 292 in Boston, Massachusetts.

It’s a date that seems to make sense for Sean O’Malley, who was quick to make a simple tweet on the possibility of the fight.

It’s likely that the ball will now be in Sterling’s court, and assuming ‘The Funk Master’ is good to go, the fight could become one of the summer’s most highly anticipated clashes.