WATCH | Sean O’Malley trains with Israel Adesanya ahead of UFC 316 title fight

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.

It will be the second time the two bantamweights have met. Their first meeting occurred at UFC 306 last September, when the promotion debuted at the Las Vegas Sphere. On that night, Dvalishvili pitched a shutout, defeating O’Malley by decision to claim the bantamweight title.

Dvalishvili has since defended the title once, handing Umar Nurmagomedov his first loss via decision earlier this year. While O’Malley has not fought since, he is one of the most popular fighters on the UFC roster, and was as competitive with Dvalishvili as anyone, and was granted an immediate rematch.

O’Malley certainly faces a tall order in the UFC 316 sequel. Time will tell if he can pull it off, but he will certainly benefit from getting some rounds in with Israel Adesanya.

See some clips of their training below, as posted by Adesanya on social media, and captured by ESPN MMA:

Sean O’Malley 🤝 Israel Adesanya

When two of the best strikers in the UFC linkup 🔥

(via @stylebender) pic.twitter.com/wbGeYqjtmU

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) April 15, 2025

While Sean O’Malley is gearing up for a title shot, things are less clear for Adesanya.

Adesanya is a former two-time middleweight champ.

He first claimed the interim belt with a decision win over Kelvin Gastelum in 2019. He then won undisputed gold with a knockout of Robert Whittaker. After a staggering six title defenses, he lost the belt to future light heavyweight champ Alex Pereira. He then reclaimed the belt from Pereira in an immediate rematch, scoring one of the most dramatic KOs in UFC history, but then surrendered it again in an upset decision loss to Sean Strickland. He then suffered a submission loss to Dricus Du Plessis in a bid to reclaim the title. Worse still, in his last fight, he was knocked out by contender Nassourdine Imavov.

His coach has made it clear his future is still up in the air. However, it’s nice to see him helping out active fighters like O’Malley as he mulls over his next move. He should benefit from the experience too.