Sean O’Malley is thrilled about the possibility of fighting Merab Dvalishvili.
‘Suga’ lost his #1 bantamweight ranking to Dvalishvili last weekend, when he dominated Petr Yan by a unanimous decision. This shouldn’t bother O’Malley too much though, since the UFC apparently promised a title shot against the winner of Aljamain Sterling vs. Henry Cejudo upon his return to the Octagon.
‘It Excites Me’
While O’Malley has his sights on what happens at UFC 288, there is another fight that has left the 28-year-old excited and it is against the aforementioned ‘Machine’.
“What I like and what gets me so excited about that Merab fight for me is when I fought Petr, it was… I loved seeing people say I’m gonna get smoked, that I ain’t got no chance. This against, Petr was a scary killer. It’s funny too, like Merab, Aljo, Henry top three guys in the division right now are the three of the best grapplers in all divisions. I just have been grappling so much and I’ve been working on it so much that it’s just exciting,” O’Malley said on his YouTube channel.
“Four years ago, I would’ve been like, ‘f*ck I, I’m not ready for these motherf*ckers. But I’ve literally been grinding so much on grappling and, and just learning, just fighting, that it excites me. Now it’s like, I can’t wait to prove motherf*ckers wrong.”
O’Malley’s Grind
Unlike Dvalishvili, Henry Cejudo and current champion Aljamain Sterling, O’Malley is not known much for his grappling. Instead, ‘Suga’ is sought out for his sensational striking that he has shown time and time again.
Despite being behind in the ground game, Sean O’Malley makes no excuse as he continues to work that part of his arsenal.
“Henry, Merab, Aljo have been grappling since they were kids. It’s a huge advantage. I didn’t start wrestling till I was 20 years old. I knew that, I’m like, ‘damn, I’m behind’. I have to grind. I have to live this lifestyle and that’s what I do.
“There’s three things you have to have: championship-level technique, championship-level mindset and you have [to have] a championship-level lifestyle. You have to live it. And I honestly, I’d put my lifestyle up against any, not fighter, athlete in the world as far as what I’m doing, eating, sleeping, recovering. I don’t think anyone’s doing it like me, to be honest.”
