Former UFC champion disagrees with Dana White over Merab Dvalishvili's next opponent

aljamain sterling (right) and Merab Dvalishvili (left) are friends and UFC stars. Photo: Reproduction/Instagram

even though Merab Dvalishvili have defeated Sean O'Malley de convincing way In September of last year, Dana White recently stated that 'Suga' will likely be the next challenger for the bantamweight title (up to 61,2 kg). aljamain sterling, a friend of the Georgian, is not sure if this is really the fight to be made, although he recognizes the potential financial return of such a rematch.

In an interview with 'The Ariel Helwani Show', Sterling explained that while a rematch between Dvalishvili and O'Malley could generate a good purse, he believes a fight against Petr yan would be more challenging and deserved. The former champion criticized 'Suga's' lack of consistency and pointed out the long periods of inactivity between his fights.

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“It’s going to be a good payday. I think it would be a good purse. The toughest fight would probably be the rematch against Petr yan and maybe the most deserved in terms of what he's been doing lately. O'Malley fought Yan, he was out for 10 and a half months, maybe 11 months, and those are just facts. Then he fought me in August, he was out for a while, he came back in March to fight 'Chito', and then he fought again in September. Now he's going to fight again, but it won't be until July or June. People talk about activity... It's just such a weird thing," Sterling explained.

In the first meeting against Merab Dvalishvili, Sean O'Malley was knocked down six times and controlled for over 10 minutes, resulting in his unanimous decision loss. Although aljamain sterling considers a rematch against 'Suga' a more profitable fight for his Georgian friend, he sees no chance of O'Malley winning, unless he manages to land a lucky shot.

“In terms of a potentially bigger payday, especially considering where Merab is right now in his career, I think it might be the rematch with O’Malley. I just think, in my opinion, it’s a tough fight to sell. You’re not going to convince me that O’Malley is going to do anything different other than hope to land a punch in 25 minutes. I don’t know, maybe he’ll come out and try to land a straight kick in the first round or something like that,” concluded the Jamaican.

After winning the bantamweight belt, Merab Dvalishvili defended the title by defeating the, until then undefeated, Umar Nurmagomedov in the main fight of UFC 311. Already Sean O'Malley, since losing his title as champion, has not fought in the octagon again.