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Sean O'Malley will aim to reclaim his title when he takes on reigning bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili in a rematch at UFC 316. The two are set to headline the upcoming pay-per-view card on June 7 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
In their first meeting at Noche UFC 306 last year, Dvalishvili displayed his wrestling prowess and dethroned O'Malley via a unanimous decision victory.
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Could Sean O'Malley move to featherweight if he loses to Merab Dvalishvili again at UFC 316?
Following his victory on Dana White's Contender Series in July 2017, Sean O'Malley was on a roll and eventually got a crack at the UFC gold against the then champion Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292. The 30-year-old dethroned Sterling to become the new undisputed bantamweight champion.
Notably, prior to his title win, O'Malley considered moving up to featherweight, however, he didn't want to test himself against Alexander Volkanovski, the featherweight kingpin at the time.
O'Malley further reiterated his featherweight move, aiming to be a double champion like Conor McGregor ahead of the Volkanovski vs. Ilia Topuria 145-pound title matchup at UFC 298 last year. He voiced his desire to challenge Topuria, if the Spaniard prevailed over the Australian.
Now that Volkanovski has become a two-time champion after Topuria vacated his featherweight title, it will be intriguing to watch whether O'Malley alters his mind and pursues a second belt.
'The Great' is now expected to defend his throne in a rematch against Yair Rodriguez, as O'Malley prepares for his own rematch against Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 316.
Regardless of the result of his title rematch against Dvalishvili, MMA fans should expect 'Suga' to advance if Rodriguez can unseat the reigning featherweight champion.
O'Malley's coach Tim Welch spoke to Submission Radio earlier this year and discussed the former champion's featherweight move, saying:
''Just take some time off, build up, and we have a bunch of 145-pound killers that we can train with so he’s used to the size, so that’s probably what the plan would be...but, you never know. With a guy like Sean, the sky’s the limit. It could be anything: 145, big fights''
Check out Tim Welch's comments below (26:20):
