Merab Dvalishvili reacts to Chael Sonnen speculating on Sean O'Malley's bantamweight future with potential loss at UFC 316: "He is a big name"

Ahead of UFC 316, Merab Dvalishvili was asked for his thoughts on Chael Sonnen's recent remarks about Sean O'Malley. While speaking to The Schmo, 'The American Gangster' opined that a bantamweight title loss for O'Malley against Dvalishvili in their upcoming rematch could be 'Sugar's' last bantamweight fight.

In his own interview with The Schmo, 'The Machine' couldn't say that this will indeed transpire if O'Malley loses. However, he did express bulletproof confidence that he will defeat O'Malley for a second time and that 'Sugar' has plenty of options if he does end up pursuing fights in different divisions:

"I wish Sean all the best. He is a good fighter and I'm not gonna say like that, but I can tell you what I can control, what I'm going to do. I'm gonna win this fight and keep the belt and Sean can fight whichever weight class he wants and how many fights he wants. He is a big name and he has so many superfights to fight and he already been champion and now it's my time and I'm not gonna give my belt to nobody."

Check out Merab Dvalishvili's thoughts on Sean O'Malley's future (2:54):

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O'Malley is in a do-or-die scenario. Two back-to-back losses to Dvalishvili will effectively boot him from the bantamweight title picture, as he will have to string together a lengthy and impressive win streak to earn a third crack, especially given how undeserved the upcoming UFC 316 rematch already is.

It is an immediate title rematch for O'Malley, who has done nothing since first losing to Dvalishvili at UFC 306. He wasn't a long-reigning champion, having just one title defense, against the division's biggest overachiever in Marlon 'Chito' Vera, before losing the belt.

A second defeat would drastically change O'Malley's career trajectory.

Merab Dvalishvili is on an all-time great win streak

Merab Dvalishvili is on a 12-fight win streak, with 11 of those wins coming in the bantamweight division. Along the way, he has beaten four different former UFC champions in ex-featherweight champion José Aldo, and ex-bantamweight champions Petr Yan, Henry Cejudo, and Sean O'Malley.

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Additionally, he has also beaten former bantamweight title challenger Marlon Moraes and recently handed the previously undefeated Umar Nurmagomedov his first-ever professional loss.

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Ricardo has been an MMA writer at Sportskeeda for the past 2 years, having previously worked for The Sportster. In his time at Sportskeeda, the kickboxing and Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner has penned over 2000 articles, including five exclusive pieces, and raked in more than 4 million views. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics.

Ricardo’s earliest memory of becoming an MMA fan dates back to 2009 when Lyoto Machida defeated Rashad Evans in the headlining bout of UFC 98. His Mt. Rushmore of MMA fighters includes Georges St-Pierre, Jon Jones, Fedor Emelianenko, Anderson Silva, and Alexander Volkanovski.

Ricardo aspires to be at the forefront of covering MMA soon by becoming a part of discussion panels that conduct pre-fight predictions, post-fight breakdowns, and fantasy fight breakdowns. His articles are supported by extensive research and double checking of information via multiple sources.

Beyond work, Ricardo likes to write and draw.

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Edited by C. Naik