UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley has a concept on Merab Dvalishvili and Aljamain Sterling’s friendship.
O’Malley (18-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC) will look to notch his second title protection when he takes on Dvalishvili (17-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 306 (pay-per-view, ESPNews, ESPN+) major occasion at Sphere in Las Vegas.
O’Malley knocked out Dvalishvili’s teammate, Sterling, to declare the bantamweight title at UFC 292. He thinks there isn’t any recommendation Sterling may give Dvalishvili that will assist him within the struggle.
“I imply, I don’t know what Aljo’s going to inform Merab,” O’Malley advised TMZ. “Like, ‘F*ck, he’s quick, he’s sharp, he’s correct, he’s onerous to take down, good luck.’ There wasn’t a variety of success Aljo had in that struggle. If something, Aljo most likely shouldn’t inform him something as a result of it’s most likely simply going to make him a bit of bit nervous.”
Dvalishvili and Sterling made it clear that they might by no means struggle one another, which actually irked UFC CEO Dana White. That meant so long as Sterling was champion, the streaking Dvalishvili wouldn’t get his well-earned title shot. However when Sterling misplaced his title to O’Malley, he moved as much as featherweight so Dvalishvili can notice his championship aspirations. O’Malley questions if Sterling and Dvalishvili have one another’s finest pursuits at coronary heart.
“Who is aware of? Aljo most likely hopes I beat Merab,” O’Malley mentioned. “It makes Aljo look higher. I’m simply curious if Merab was pleased that I knocked out Aljo as a result of if I didn’t knock out Aljo, Merab nonetheless can be ready round. So I’ve a bit of concept that perhaps they’re not pretty much as good buddies as all of us thought.”
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