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Sean O'Malley successfully defended his bantamweight title against Marlon Vera in the main event of UFC 299. Following his victory, 'Sugar' took to calling out featherweight champion Ilia Topuria instead of acknowledging the contendership of Merab Dvalishvili, who is ranked No.1 in the division.
'The Machine' has been pushing for a title shot since before O'Malley was champion when Aljamain Sterling reigned supreme. But with Dvalishvili being close friends and teammates with Sterling, the pair refused to fight one another.
But with 'Sugar' the current champion, the Georgian's chance to fight for the title was expected to materialize, yet O'Malley has refused to acknowledge his status as the next challenger.
The American recently took to X to call out 'The Machine' and pointed to 2025 as the year for their clash. The post drew a response from both fans and Dvalishvili, but the champion has now confessed that his post on X was an attempt to rile up his likely next opponent.
'Sugar' took to Snapchat to upload a video that was then reposted to X by @ChampRDS, where he said this:
"Alright boys, I just shot off a little tweet [saying], 'Merab 2025.' That's not real, I want to beat his a** this year probably. But I just thought I'd fluster him, he's short so he gets mad easily."
Watch Sean O'Malley's video below:
Merab Dvalishvili reveals frustration at Sean O'Malley snub
Merab Dvalishvili is tied with Aljamain Sterling for the longest winning streak in bantamweight history, and he appears to be the likely next opponent for Sean O'Malley, the current champion of the division.
But following his win over Marlon Vera at UFC 299, 'Sugar' did not acknowledge Dvalishvili during his post-fight interview, nor when they briefly crossed paths backstage.
'The Machine' has now expressed his frustration with the champion's refusal to mention his name, stating that it came down to a matter of respect for the division. He was recently interviewed by Damon Martin, where Dvalishvili said this:
"He's still not mentioning my name, and he's still, I don't know, I don't want to say ducking me. But come on bro, let's build this fight... You are champion... Now give the division respect. You've got to fight the best of the best... I was so pissed."
Watch Dvalishvili discuss Sean O'Malley ignoring him below:
