Merab Dvalishvili admits lack of motivation as Sean O’Malley adds UFC legend to fight camp

Things are getting very interesting ahead of the UFC 316 rematch between Merab Dvalishvili and Sean O’Malley.

Dvalishvili first met O’Malley in the main event of Noche UFC at the Sphere in Las Vegas last September. On that night, Dvalishvili won a unanimous decision to claim the promotion’s bantamweight title. The pair are now set to run it back at UFC 316, which is set for June 7.

As the rematch draws closer, Dvalishvili has made a shocking admission. Having already beaten O’Malley, he is apparently struggling to find the motivation to prepare for the high-stakes rematch.

“This rematch is a little bit weird because it’s hard to motivate myself, you know?” he said in an interview on the UFC YouTube channel. “I’m fighting the same guy, but I know this guy will be more dangerous now. First fight, I was game. I had a game plan. I knew it was gonna work against him, and he had a game plan, and I stopped his game plan. Now I don’t know what game plan he gonna have.”

Sean O’Malley trains with Demetrious Johnson ahead of UFC 316

At the same time as Dvalishvili is struggling with motivation, O’Malley is clearly locked in on his UFC 318 preparations. In fact, the former bantamweight champion has brought in MMA legend Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson to prepare for the challenge.

His coach, Tim Welsh, opened up on training with the former flyweight champ on his Red Hawk Recap podcast.

“I learned a bunch from him just in the clinch,” Welsh said. “He pressures you so hard, forces you to reach out for him, to reach out and grab him, and as soon as you reach out and grab him, he just rifles those knees up the middle. That’s one thing that really surprised me is just when I grabbed a hold of him.”

“I was asking him some questions in the clinch and he was just moving around, doing all these different things. I’m like f*ck, he’s a black belt in the clinch.”

How do you think these new variables will impact the UFC 317 rematch between Merab Dvalishvili and Sean O’Malley?