Sean O’Malley remains confident that he can beat Merab Dvalishvili despite two losses: “That’s definitely on my radar”

Sean O’Malley may have dropped two straight to Merab Dvalishvili, but he still feels he can defeat “The Machine.”

O’Malley and Dvalishvili first met back in Sept. 2024. The “Suga” show entered the UFC 306 headliner as the reigning bantamweight champion. O’Malley ended up losing his title via unanimous decision. Following surgery for a torn labrum, O’Malley challenged Dvalishvili in a rematch, but this time he was submitted.

Since that time, Dvalishvili has dropped the 135-pound gold to Petr Yan. O’Malley is expecting a trilogy fight between Dvalishvili and Yan, and he even admits fans don’t have an appetite to see him go after “The Machine” a third time. Even so, O’Malley appeared on the “Pound 4 Pound” podcast to share his belief that he has the tools to defeat Dvalishvili (h/t MMAFighting).

“Part of me, I know, truly, I can beat Merab,” O’Malley said. “I know how the last two fights went. I know I can beat Merab, and I know if I go out there and do beat Merab, I’m undefeated. I’ve beat everybody I’ve ever fought. … I know I can go out there and beat Merab, and that would be huge for my career, because then I have beat Petr Yan, Aljamain Sterling, and Merab, the three greatest bantamweights of all-time.

“So, that’s definitely on my radar. And I know that fight is not necessarily — no one gives a f*ck about it. No one really wants to see it. I’ve got to maybe go out there, beat Petr. There’s a way to it, but that’s kind of what’s on my mind.”

Since his second defeat to Dvalishvili, O’Malley has scored victories over Aiemann Zahabi and Song Yadong. O’Malley stopped Zahabi via second-round TKO on the UFC Freedom 250 card in his most recent outing. Whether or not a title eliminator is in the cards for O’Malley remains to be seen.

As it stands now, the injury statuses of both Dvalishvili and Yan are in question. “The Machine” has been recovering from a broken nose, while Yan underwent surgery on his back.

Do you think Sean O’Malley could prove the naysayers wrong and defeat Merab Dvalishvili if given a third chance? Sound off in the comments below.