Sean O’Malley News

Fernando Quiles Jr. - May 22, 2025

Merab Dvalishvili has received some surprising comments from Sean O’Malley’s head coach. It’s no secret that there’s some gamesmanship between Dvalishvili and O’Malley’s team. With that said, there is also mutual respect between both sides. Dvalishvili defeated O’Malley to become the UFC Bantamweight Champion back in Sept. 2024. O’Malley’s coach Tim Welch recently remarked that the lights inside the Las Vegas Sphere caused his fighter to miss a good portion of his strikes.

Harry Kettle - May 22, 2025

UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili teased rival Sean O’Malley in a recent skit ahead of UFC 316. At UFC 316, Merab Dvalishvili will defend his UFC bantamweight championship against Sean O’Malley. It comes in the wake of their battle at Noche UFC, where Merab was able to wrestle the belt away from ‘Suga’. Ever since then, O’Malley hasn’t fought, whereas ‘The Machine’ has been able to successfully defend his title against Umar Nurmagomedov.

Cole Shelton - May 21, 2025

Tim Welch, the head coach of Sean O’Malley, has a unique reason for his fighter’s loss to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306. O’Malley lost his bantamweight title at UFC 306 at the Sphere in Las Vegas back in September to Dvalishvili. O’Malley struggled to keep the fight standing as Dvalishvili cruised to a win.

Harry Kettle - May 3, 2025

Cory Sandhagen has given his thoughts on what Sean O’Malley can do to defeat Merab Dvalishvili in their rematch. In the main event of UFC 316, Sean O’Malley will challenge Merab Dvalishvili for the UFC bantamweight championship. Dvalishvili was able to take the belt from ‘Suga’ last year in their first encounter, with many wondering whether or not the outcome would be different if they were to run it back. Well, next month, we’ll get the chance to find out.

BJ Penn Staff - April 15, 2025

Sean O’Malley has been training with one of the best fighters in MMA history ahead of his UFC 316 rematch with Merab Dvalishvili. UFC 316 goes down on June 7 in Newark, New Jersey. O’Malley will meet Dvalishvili in the main event.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - April 9, 2025

Merab Dvalishvili has no problem mixing it up with Sean O’Malley again. Dvalishvili took the UFC Bantamweight Championship from O’Malley in the main event of UFC 306, which was held inside the Sphere in Las Vegas back in Sept. 2024. Dvalishvili went on to have a successful title defense against Umar Nurmagomedov, while O’Malley was recovering from surgery to fix a torn labrum in his left hip.

BJ Penn Staff - April 8, 2025

Merab Dvalishvili and Sean O’Malley traded a ton of pre-fight trash talk before their first meeting in the UFC. Apparently, it wasn’t serious — at least, not from the former’s perspective. Dvalishvili and O’Malley first met at UFC 306 at the Las Vegas Sphere last September. Dvalishvili was challenging O’Malley for the bantamweight belt, and ultimately succeeded on his mission, dominating the five-round fight with his wrestling to a clear-cut unanimous decision win.

Harry Kettle - April 8, 2025

Sean O’Malley shouldn’t have opted to rematch Merab Dvalishvili straight away, says former UFC star Ben Askren. As we now know, Sean O’Malley will challenge Merab Dvalishvili for the UFC bantamweight championship at UFC 316. While Dvalishvili has already defended his belt against Umar Nurmagomedov, Sean hasn’t fought since he lost the strap to Merab at UFC 306. Some expected him to take on a fellow contender in his next outing, but that isn’t the direction he’s gone in.

Josh Evanoff - April 7, 2025

Former UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley has responded to critics of his upcoming fight against Merab Dvalishvili. ‘Sugar’ recently signed a deal to face ‘The Machine’ in the main event of UFC 316 in June. The bout will be a rematch of their prior meeting at The Sphere last September, which saw Merab Dvalishvili largely dominate the then-bantamweight champion. Post-fight, Sean O’Malley revealed a litany of injuries that hampered his performance, and called for a rematch. Earlier this month, Dana White granted his wish for a second crack at Dvalishvili.

BJ Penn Staff - April 7, 2025

Sean O’Malley is one of the most popular fighters in the UFC right now, but his reign as the promotion’s bantamweight champ didn’t last long. O’Malley won the bantamweight belt with a knockout of Aljamain Sterling in 2023. After defending his belt with a lopsided decision win over Marlon “Chito” Vera early last year, he then lost the belt last September, suffering a decision loss to Georgia’s Merab Dvalishvili.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - April 7, 2025

Sean O’Malley has been granted a UFC title rematch, but did he make a mistake? In the main event of UFC 306 inside the Sphere in Las Vegas, O’Malley attempted to successfully defend the UFC Bantamweight Championship against Merab Dvalishvili. The “Suga” show struggled with the wrestling and pressure of Dvalishvili. While O’Malley found some success late in the fight, it wasn’t enough to retain the 135-pound gold.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - April 4, 2025

Aljamain Sterling isn’t convinced that Sean O’Malley’s lifestyle adjustments are the answer to his hopes of regaining UFC gold. O’Malley lost the UFC Bantamweight Championship to Merab Dvalishvili in their UFC 306 title fight back in Sept. 2024. The “Sugar” show had to be sidelined after undergoing surgery for a torn labrum in his left hip. Upon his return to action, O’Malley will be receiving a title rematch against “The Machine” at UFC 316 on June 7.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - April 2, 2025

Sean O’Malley has shared his first words publicly since the announcement of his UFC 316 title rematch against Merab Dvalishvili. UFC CEO Dana White recently announced that Dvalishvili vs. O’Malley 2 will be held inside the Prudential Center in Newark on June 7. The “Sugar” show lost the UFC Bantamweight Championship to “The Machine” back in Sept. 2024. O’Malley didn’t have an answer for his opponent’s relentless pressure.

Josh Evanoff - April 1, 2025

UFC 316 will be headlined by Merab Dvalishvili vs. Sean O’Malley 2, Dana White revealed earlier today. Earlier today, the UFC CEO took to social media to announce several new fights. Sadly, the Fight Night slated for Kansas City later this month has a new main event, following an injury to Jamahal Hill. As a result, ‘Sweet Dreams’ is out of his slated fight against Khalil Rountree Jr., and the bout has been replaced by Ian Machado Garry vs. Carlos Prates. However, that welterweight headliner wasn’t the only bout announced earlier today.

Josh Evanoff - March 19, 2025

Cory Sandhagen has no issue with Sean O’Malley getting the next UFC bantamweight title shot. ‘The Sandman’ recently booked his return to the octagon for May in Des Moines. Last suffering a unanimous decision loss to Umar Nurmagomedov in August, the bantamweight contender will meet former UFC flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo next. For his part. ‘Deus da Guerra’ is fresh off a lopsided decision loss to Petr Yan in November. That defeat snapped a three-fight winning streak for the Brazilian.

BJ Penn Staff - March 19, 2025

UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili is on one of the best runs in MMA right now, with wins over a host of former champions and undefeated contenders behind him. In a recent conversation with X user @judobetter995, he ranked his five most recent opponents in terms of difficulty.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - February 23, 2025

Song Yadong has a big name in mind if his next fight isn’t a rematch with Henry Cejudo. Yadong went one-on-one with Cejudo in the main event of UFC Seattle this past Saturday night. The bout was competitive on the feet, but Yadong turned things up in round three before accidentally poking “Triple C” in the left eye. While Cejudo made it through the round after taking five minutes to recover, he couldn’t start round four and Yadong was awarded the win via technical decision.

BJ Penn Staff - February 23, 2025

It’s not yet clear who UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili will defend his title against next. However, company president Dana White dropped a big clue following Saturday’s Fight Night card in Seattle. He claimed that Dvalishvili wants to run it back with the man we won the title from last year, Sean O’Malley, and that the feeling is mutual. He also called the rematch a fight “people want to see” at 135 pounds.