A title shot coming off a loss? You won’t hear Sean O’Malley complaining.
The UFC bantamweight division was left in limbo following Merab Dvalishvili’s successful title defense over Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311. Dvalishvili has now cleared contenders #1-3, having defeated Sean O’Malley and Petr Yan, leaving many to wonder who he’d fight next.
Despite how one-sided the first fight was between them, the UFC brass would ultimately go with Dvalishvili vs. O’Malley 2 for the main event of UFC 316 on June 7th in Newark, New Jersey.
O’Malley will enter the title rematch nine months removed from the loss to Dvalishvili with no wins in between but a whole lot of lifestyle changes.
‘Thanks Dana,’ Sean O’Malley fist-bumps Dana White for title fight
At the UFC 316 press conference on Friday, a reporter asked O’Malley what he thought of the narrative that he was being given ‘Dana White privilege’ with this title fight.
As you might recall, ‘Dana White privilege’ was a term Tony Ferguson coined at the UFC 274 press conference. The former champion claimed his opponent Michael Chandler had received special treatment from Dana White and co. for better opportunities inside the UFC.
“Thanks Dana,” O’Malley said as he fist-bumped the UFC boss to his right.
White smiled as the crowd laughed and Merab Dvalishvili clapped his hands.
“I’m very grateful to the UFC to give me a rematch so quick,” O’Malley said at the press conference.
“It’s an ‘excuse’, call it what you want, I fought Merab with one leg.
“I tore my hip 10 weeks before the fight,” O’Malley brought up his torn labrum injury, which limited his grappling training tremendously.
All healed up and ready to go, ‘Suga’ promises a 70% better performance in his comeback fight this summer.
Dana White on booking Merab Dvalishvili vs. Sean O’Malley 2
The rematch was announced on April Fools’ Day, leading some UFC fans to hope it was a hoax: a fight they didn’t ask for.
It took Dana White a few seconds to answer why the title fight was booked in the first place.
“Um…” White said with a chuckle.
“This is the fight the people wanted to see,” White answered.
“Except for these six guys over here,” the UFC CEO referenced the media.
Whether you’re a fan of Sean O’Malley getting a title shot or not, it’s not like UFC Champion Merab Dvalishvili had many opponents to choose from with all of the top-5 coming off a loss. In actuality, seven fighters in the top 10 are coming off a loss.
Song Yadong is the highest-ranked contender (#6) in the bantamweight division that won their last fight.
A former champion with an exciting fighting style and insane social media following, the UFC ultimately landed on ‘The Suga Show’ for UFC 316.
