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Merab Dvalishvili's UFC 306 claims were refuted by Sean O'Malley, who also disclosed that the bantamweight title bout at 'The Sphere' is still subject to confirmation.
This happened in response to Dvalishvili's recent announcement that he and O'Malley would face off at UFC 306 for the UFC bantamweight title.
O'Malley made it known after defeating Marlon Vera at UFC 299 that he intended to compete at UFC 306 because it fell during Mexican Independence Day, hoping to honor his partner's Mexican ancestry.
'The Machine' has been a candidate for the title long before O'Malley became the champion. Given their close friendship and many years of training together, Aljamain Sterling and Dvalishvili declined to fight each other during the former's championship run.
But after losing the title to O'Malley at UFC 292 last year, the Georgian was again in the running for the belt. UFC India first reported the fight announcement, as the title challenger is currently in the subcontinent for media duties.
@SpinninBackfist reposted the news, writing:
"Merab Dvalishvili says on @UFCIndia show that he is fighting Sean O’Malley at The Sphere in Las Vegas for #UFC306 on September 14th."
See the post below:
Less than 24 hours after the post was first shared on social media, O'Malley reacted with a social media post of his own. The current UFC bantamweight champion denied any fight scheduled with Dvalishvili. However, O'Malley acknowledged that he supported the idea.
In his recent Instagram story, O'Malley wrote:
''Merab at the sphere is not targeted as far as I know. I've been pushing for that but UFC hasn't said anything.''
UFC CEO Dana White unofficially confirmed their matchup after Dvalishvili defeated Henry Cejudo at UFC 298.
O'Malley later declared that, although having previously ruled out the top contender in pursuit of a possible featherweight title match with Ilia Topuria, he is open to facing Dvalishvili in his next title defense.
Sean O'Malley discusses the one thing that prevents his fight with Merab Dvalishvili
Sean O'Malley wants to fight Merab Dvalishvili as soon as possible, but there is one issue.
O'Malley talked about his upcoming championship defense on his TimboSugarShow podcast. He also disclosed that he hopes to schedule his next fight as quickly as possible, but it has to happen in the US.
He said:
"I'm trying to get it booked ASAP. The only issue is, some of the next pay-per-views aren't in the country, and I'm not fighting out of the country. They have other people who have other places. But I'm ready to go, I'm f****** wanting to book a fight ASAP... God I just want to hit Merab with that knee, boom, flatline him."
Check out Sean O'Malley's comments below:
