Merab Dvalishvili reveals next title challenger if he defeats Sean O’Malley at UFC 316

Merab Dvalisvhili has an idea of who his next title challenger will be should he defeat Sean O’Malley a second time.

Dvalishvili is looking for his second successful defense of the UFC Bantamweight Championship. He scored a unanimous decision victory over O’Malley to capture the gold, and followed that up with a successful title defense over Umar Nurmagomedov. Dvalishvili is expecting a competitive fight against “Suga” in their rematch.

Should “The Machine” maintain his hold on the gold by the end of UFC 316, he believes he’ll know who his next contender will be.

RELATED: MERAB DVALISHVILI QUESTIONS THE UFC BANTAMWEIGHT DIVISION BEING “STUCK”

Merab Dvalishvili vs. Cory Sandhagen?

Sports reporter Manouk Akopyan recently took footage of a scrum that was held for Merab Dvalishvili following an open workout session. Dvalishvili revealed that he expects to face Cory Sandhagen after UFC 316.

“I will be happy [if] I fight two more times this year,” Dvalishvili said. “Looks like Cory Sandhagen is ready for me and we never fought each other. He’s a great contender, he fought everybody, he has a good style, he’s a good fighter we all know, and he beat a lot of guys in our division. I don’t mind to take another quick turnaround fight and then fight one more at the end of this year either in New York or my new home in Las Vegas.”

Sandhagen is the No. 4-ranked UFC bantamweight. Ahead of him are fighters who Dvalishvili has defeated. As the reigning 135-pound titleholder mentioned, it would be a fresh matchup. Sandhagen has gone 4-1 in his last five outings. The lone defeat was against Umar Nurmagomedov.

Of course, Dvalishvili will need to focus on the task at hand ahead of UFC 316. BJPenn.com will have you covered throughout the event. Peep our homepage for live results and video highlights throughout the show.