Sean O'Malley accuses Merab Dvalishvili of 'running away' from challenges and laments: 'It would be better without him'

Sean O'Malley and Merab Dvalishvili in front of the UFC 306 (Photo: X/UFC)

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Dethroned by Merab Dvalishvili on the UFC bantamweight throne (up to 61,2 kg) in September, Sean O'Malley has not been happy with the start of the Georgian's reign in the category and accuses the champion of 'running away' from the main possible challenges.

In a recent edition of his podcast 'TimboSugaShow', Sean O'Malley stated that Merab Dvalishvili would be 'terrified' of the possibility of facing Umar Nurmagomedov and that the champion is looking for the 'easy way out' in a possible rematch against Petr yan, whom he easily defeated in 2023.

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“Umar wants to fight Merab in January. Petr wants to fight Merab in March. I want to fight Merab in April. Merab is scared shitless, terrified of Umar. He doesn’t want to fight Umar. Now he’s saying he wants to fight Petr. He wanted to fight me. Petr lost 50-45 to Merab,” the former champion criticized.

Sean O'Malley completed the reasoning, stating that the bantamweight division would be better and more competitive without the presence of the current champion.

“Think about how exciting and awesome the division would be if Merab wasn’t in it. No disrespect. The guy is really good at getting positions and holding them throughout the fight. Man, that would be awesome, but the guy is a real problem,” he concluded.