Sean O’Malley successfully defended his bantamweight title for the first time against Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera at UFC 299. ‘Suga’ put on a striking masterclass and thoroughly outclassed the Ecuadorian to avenge the only loss in his career. After the fight, the bantamweight champion called out Ilia Topuria in the post-fight octagon interview, to the chagrin of Merab Dvalishvili.

Dvalishvili, who is officially the number one title contender for the 135-pound title after defeating former champion Henry Cejudo at their co-main event bout on UFC 299, could be seen expressing his frustration at not being called out by ‘Suga’. He even approached the champion backstage and suggested that the Montana native should have ‘said his name’ after the fight. And UFC analyst and former UFC title contender Chael Sonnen thinks that there is a sinister reason behind O’Malley’s refusal to call out ‘The Machine’.

Chael Sonnen thinks Sean O’Malley wanted to spite Dvalishvili with call-outs

Although Sean O’Malley called out Ilia Topuria for a fight, UFC CEO Dana White indicated in the UFC 299 post-fight press conference that it would not be happening anytime soon. In addition, Topuria, who himself had floated a possible fight with ‘Suga’ earlier this year, told O’Malley to fight Merab Dvalishvili before he even entertained the idea of fighting him.

Not one to be deterred, O’Malley proceeded to call out former boxing lightweight interim champion Ryan Garcia and boxing icon Floyd Mayweather for a cross-over boxing match following the example set by Conor McGregor, whom O’Malley often tries to emulate.

And Chael Sonnen theorized that the reason Sean O’Malley had chosen to call out everyone except Dvalishvili was because ‘Suga’ wanted to stick it to the Georgian. “There is no way for us to then attempt to deny Merab [the title shot next] but as strong as that is, it’s not done. Why? Because Sean O’Malley called out Floyd Mayweather and Sean did that two days after he called out Ilia Topuria and Sean only called out Floyd Mayweather and Ilia Topuria to stick it in Merab’s a** and Merab is sweating it,”  ‘Uncle Chael’ said. However, Dvalishvili finally got his wish as O’Malley finally called him out.

O’Malley wants to fight Dvalishvili but next year

Putting an end to speculations, Sean O’Malley finally called out Merab Dvalishvili on Twitter. However, the champion indicated that he would fight ‘The Machine’ next year, which did not go down well with fans. “I WANT MARAB. 2025 will be legendary ✌🏽” he tweeted.

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While Dvalishvili was exasperated at the flamboyant champion mispronouncing his name, he accepted the challenge claiming he could knock out O’Malley, and took a shot at him, writing that he needed a year to prepare for him. And although this may not be true, ‘the Machine’ is a stylistic nightmare for the champion.

Dvalishvili is a world-class wrestler as he proved last month against Henry Cejudo, among the greatest wrestlers in UFC history. O’Malley, on the other hand, is perhaps the best striker in the promotion currently, with excellent footwork and distance management. Because of this, their fight will come down to who can impose their game plan and keep the fight either on the feet (for O’Malley) or take it to the ground (for Dvalishvili). Who do you think will win their fight?

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