- Merab Dvalishvili knows Sean O’Malley is ignoring him but he believes he can knock the champion out
- “The Machine” wants to see how “Sugar” would fare against him
Merab Dvalishvili is excited to face and knock Sean O’Malley out.
Merab is ready
Speaking to The Schmo, “The Machine” took a jab at “Sugar” for pretending that he is not the rightful next in line. Dvalishvili then boasted that he is ready and capable of flattening O’Malley out.
“It’s all good. I know I’m fighting for the belt next,” Dvalishvili said. “Even [if] O’Malley can’t recognize [the] number one contender, he can’t say my name, even I see him shake his hand, he don’t know who I was. What the heck bro? Come on, O’Malley. You gotta promote this fight bro. This fight is big. We all know, but he has to keep talking about this fight because he’s going to fight me and we’ve got to promote this fight.”
“He’s saying he’s going to knock me out and okay, let’s try… if you are man of your word then let’s try you know… fight me then we will find out,” he added.
“I’m ready for it. Don’t be surprised, I may knock him out because he he’s very confident and I have some skills. I’m getting better and I’m training and I can knock him out. I believe so,” he assessed.
Merab wants to see how good Sean really is
Dvalishvili also broke down what he thinks are the best attributes of O’Malley. However, “The Machine” pointed out that none of that would matter once they entered the Octagon and they need to find out who the better fighter is.
“He’s very technical, footwork, his reach works,” Dvalishvili said of O’Malley. “He’s working and getting better and look at him as a good challenge. He’s a dangerous opponent for me. As a fighter I have so much respect for him, but we all have to find out. This is MMA. We all see a kickboxing fight last Saturday. That was like an all strikes fight. He did very good. He did very good against grapplers before. Let’s see how he’s going to do with me. I’m the next guy.”
Merab would represent Mexico again
Having represented Mexico in his last win over Henry Cejudo, Dvalishvili would be delighted to do it again on Mexican Independence Day at the Sphere against O’Malley.
“I will represent Mexico. I’m gonna bring the three flags there: Georgian, American, and Mexican flag and I’m going to make my Mexican people proud again you know I’m gonna beat this skinny guy and represent Mexico of course viva Mexico! Let’s go!,” he said.
Dvalishvili is currently the No. 1 bantamweight contender and has gone undefeated in his last 10 fights in a row. Many are yearning to see him get the title shot next but O’Malley seems to be very interested in moving up to featherweight and face Ilia Topuria. However, the UFC and Topuria appear to be not keen on the idea as they want to see him defend his title against the top guys like Dvalishvili first.
Watch Merab’s full interview below: