Umar Nurmagomedov and Merab Dvalishvili will clash in the co-main event of UFC 311 on Jan. 18 for the bantamweight title. However, with Nurmagomedov having stated in November that he was injured and unable to compete next month, Sean O’Malley has shared speculation about how the apparent injury could affect the challenger.
Sean O’Malley himself entered his title fight with Dvalishvili at Noche UFC 306 with a hip injury, which appeared to severely hinder his grappling ability. With ‘The Machine’ revered for his relentless wrestling skillset, O’Malley suffered a unanimous decision loss.
Ahead of UFC 311, the former champion discussed Dvalishvili’s upcoming clash with the Dagestani whilst appearing on Jake Shields’ podcast. He said:
“It’s a title fight, and it’s in 30 days. And Umar supposedly f**king fractured his arm, supposedly he’s pretty injured. In my mind, I want the winner, whether it’s Umar [or] Merab. I’d prefer Merab. I want to get that one back badly.”
Sean O’Malley continued:
“I don’t feel like people are super excited about that fight just because of the way it played out… Dude, I had [Dvalishvili] running in the fifth-round. 80% of that round he was literally just circling around, holding his guts.”