‘That’s what I want next’ – Sean O’Malley confirms ideal next fight opponent and date ahead of UFC 311
Sean O’Malley has confirmed his intentions to pursue a fourth consecutive title fight in 2025 O’Malley, 30, dropped the UFC bantamweight title to Merab Dvalishvili in September after winning it against Aljamain Sterling in 2023. O’Malley defended his title once against Marlon Vera at UFC 299Getty Dvalishvili now defends his belt for the first time against Russia’s undefeated Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311 on January 19. O’Malley underwent surgery after his bout with Dvalishvili, 33, to repair a torn shoulder labrum, and is targeting a return in the first quarter of 2025. He revealed in December that he is already in the process of cutting out all social media, calling it his ‘biggest distraction’, in order to reclaim a UFC title Now, ‘Suga’ is hoping that Dvalishvili successfully defends his bantamweight title on January 19 so he can exact revenge in 2025. “Ideally, Merab beats Umar and I get the rematch,” O’Malley said at a pre-fight press conference ahead of RIZIN 49 last Tuesday. “But if Umar wins, it’ll be Umar. That’s what I want next is a title fight,” he added. O’Malley ventured out to Japan for RIZIN’s stacked Decade card earlier last week. He made multiple appearances at the Japanese MMA promotion’s big New Year’s Eve event, proving UFC President Dana White’s relationship with Rizin is only growing. White handed Japan’s Kai Asakura, who is a former RIZIN champion, a title shot on his UFC debut in December, although he lost via submission to Brazil’s Alexandre Pantoja – the current flyweight champion. “Hopefully mid next year [against] the winner of that one,” O’Malley added. View Tweet: https://t.co/vFdTm4KFxB O’Malley hopes Dvalishvili beats NurmagomedovGetty Dvalishvil takes on Nurmagomedov, who is the cousin of UFC legend Khabib Nurmagomedov and undefeated with 18 wins in professional MMA. Nurmagomedov accidentally admitted on Friday that he’s trained with a broken arm ahead of his UFC 311 co-main event bout with Dvalishvili, having suffered the injury late last year. In November, Nurmagomedov revealed a ‘small arm fracture’ had prevented him from fighting this month, which led to confusion, as it wasn’t long after that his fight with Dvalishvili was announced. He has won all six of his fights under the UFC banner and was victorious in the first five-round bout of his career against Cory Sandhagen last time out in August. UFC 311 is headlined by Islam Makhachev, who defends his lightweight title in a rematch with Arman Tsarukyan, six years after they met for the first time. Prior to his fight announcement against Nurmagomedov, Dvalishvili expressed interest in running it back with O’Malley in an immediate rematch. O’Malley remains the No.1 ranked UFC bantamweightGetty However, UFC CEO White shut down the rumours at UFC 308’s post-fight press conference, saying he ‘absolutely’ wanted to make Nurmagomedov vs Dvalishvili happen. White will lose several key fighters to Ramadan at the end of February, which is probably why his promotion was in such a hurry to get Dvalishvili vs Nurmagomedov over the line this month. Nurmagomedov’s injury admission could raise questions with the California State Athletic Commission (CSAS), who are sanctioning the bout in Inglewood, as they may deem it unsafe for the Russian to fight with such an injury.
Sean O’Malley has confirmed his intentions to pursue a fourth consecutive title fight in 2025
O’Malley, 30, dropped the UFC bantamweight title to Merab Dvalishvili in September after winning it against Aljamain Sterling in 2023.
Dvalishvili now defends his belt for the first time against Russia’s undefeated Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311 on January 19.
O’Malley underwent surgery after his bout with Dvalishvili, 33, to repair a torn shoulder labrum, and is targeting a return in the first quarter of 2025.
He revealed in December that he is already in the process of cutting out all social media, calling it his ‘biggest distraction’, in order to reclaim a UFC title
Now, ‘Suga’ is hoping that Dvalishvili successfully defends his bantamweight title on January 19 so he can exact revenge in 2025.
“Ideally, Merab beats Umar and I get the rematch,” O’Malley said at a pre-fight press conference ahead of RIZIN 49 last Tuesday.
“But if Umar wins, it’ll be Umar. That’s what I want next is a title fight,” he added.
O’Malley ventured out to Japan for RIZIN’s stacked Decade card earlier last week.
He made multiple appearances at the Japanese MMA promotion’s big New Year’s Eve event, proving UFC President Dana White’s relationship with Rizin is only growing.
White handed Japan’s Kai Asakura, who is a former RIZIN champion, a title shot on his UFC debut in December, although he lost via submission to Brazil’s Alexandre Pantoja – the current flyweight champion.
“Hopefully mid next year [against] the winner of that one,” O’Malley added.
Dvalishvil takes on Nurmagomedov, who is the cousin of UFC legend Khabib Nurmagomedov and undefeated with 18 wins in professional MMA.
Nurmagomedov accidentally admitted on Friday that he’s trained with a broken arm ahead of his UFC 311 co-main event bout with Dvalishvili, having suffered the injury late last year.
In November, Nurmagomedov revealed a ‘small arm fracture’ had prevented him from fighting this month, which led to confusion, as it wasn’t long after that his fight with Dvalishvili was announced.
He has won all six of his fights under the UFC banner and was victorious in the first five-round bout of his career against Cory Sandhagen last time out in August.
UFC 311 is headlined by Islam Makhachev, who defends his lightweight title in a rematch with Arman Tsarukyan, six years after they met for the first time.
Prior to his fight announcement against Nurmagomedov, Dvalishvili expressed interest in running it back with O’Malley in an immediate rematch.
However, UFC CEO White shut down the rumours at UFC 308’s post-fight press conference, saying he ‘absolutely’ wanted to make Nurmagomedov vs Dvalishvili happen.
White will lose several key fighters to Ramadan at the end of February, which is probably why his promotion was in such a hurry to get Dvalishvili vs Nurmagomedov over the line this month.
Nurmagomedov’s injury admission could raise questions with the California State Athletic Commission (CSAS), who are sanctioning the bout in Inglewood, as they may deem it unsafe for the Russian to fight with such an injury.
