UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley and top contender Merab Dvalishvili are ramping up the trash talk ahead of their title bout.
Sean O’Malley and Merab Dvalishvili will headline UFC 306 on September 14th at the Las Vegas Sphere. The event will serve as a one-off as the first major sporting event to take place at the venue.
Sean O’Malley will defend his UFC bantamweight title against the surging Dvalishvili, just months after a dominant win at UFC 299. Dvalishvili earned the bantamweight title shot after a 10-fight winning streak.
O’Malley captured the title by knocking out Dvalishvili’s teammate, Aljamain Sterling, at UFC 292. Since then, O’Malley and his coach Tim Welch have gone back and forth on social media with Dvalishvili and Sterling.
Tensions have intensified to the point of Dvalishvili wanting to have a street fight with Welch after UFC 306. Ahead of the pay-per-view event, O’Malley and Dvalishvili came face-to-face during a promo shoot, and their interaction wasn’t a positive one.
Watch the incident between O’Malley and Dvalishvili below.
Bad blood boils between Sean O’Malley and Merab Dvalishvili
In the above clip, Dvalishvili can clearly be heard bringing up Welch’s recent online banter, to which O’Malley responds by encouraging a street fight between them. But, it appears the verbal altercation never turned physical.
O’Malley defeated Marlon Vera in his latest title defense at UFC 299 in March. The upcoming fight with Dvalishvili will be his first Las Vegas-based title defense.
Merab Dvalishvili has surged to the forefront of the bantamweight title picture with recent victories over Henry Cejudo and Petr Yan. He’s also earned wins over the likes of UFC Hall of Famer José Aldo and former title challenger Marlon Moraes during his promotional tenure.
Fight fans are in for a treat at UFC 306 with two title fights and many exciting matchups. The main event between Sean O’Malley and Merab Dvalishvili is expected to deliver in a big way, and it appears there’s some added intensity to the upcoming fight.