With the pre-fight press conference featuring all the fighters for the event on stage, right outside the Sphere, the excitement around UFC 306 has gone up a notch. But the uproar was pretty massive when Sean O’Malley and Merab Dvalishvili began trash-talking at the press conference. 

The event began with a reporter complimenting the bantamweight champion’s red and black jacket. With the heat around Dvalishvili apparently stealing O’Malley’s jacket, and raising the hype around the rivalry, a question about it seemed pretty obvious. O’Malley wore the red to reflect back on how the rivalry actually began. But it was the bantamweight #1’s response that garnered all the attention.

Taking the jacket from the bantamweight champion and flaunting it during UFC 292 sparked the rivalry. O’Malley had then denied that his jacket was stolen. And to prove it, he donned it to the press conference for UFC 306. But this time, Dvalishvili is not after his jacket. Dvalishvili fired, “Thank you, Dana. Dana asked me to give you jacket back, otherwise I would keep other jacket. But looking good on you, today. You can have your jacket. I’m gonna take your belt on Saturday.”

But what does the Georgian mixed martial artist think about his opponent? Even with all the boos coming in from the crowd, Dvalishvili stood tall and was ready to work for his dream.

Merab Dvalishvili provides his honest opinion about fighting Sean O’Malley

At the Riyadh Season Noche UFC press conference, ‘The Machine’ was asked about his thoughts on finally getting the chance to fight ‘Suga’ for the bantamweight championship belt. After all, the Georgian fighter has been asking for the fight for quite a long time. Being the underdog, Dvalishvili received a lot of ‘boos’ from the crowd as soon as the question was fired for him. But that didn’t make him flinch, and he went on to talk about his feelings about fighting O’Malley.

Dvalishvili said, “Yes! Dreams come true! I’m fighting for the belt, I’m fighting for Sean O’Malley. Yes! I wanted to fight him because [he] excites me. Yes, he is the guy! He knocks people out. Then I wanna always top fight, top guys, the guy who excites me. And why, I will challenge myself Saturday night, and I know I can do it. I know I can beat this guy. This is very good fight for you guys and you guys really enjoy Saturday night. I’m working so hard that I’m gonna prove Saturday night. So, you guys only enjoy this fight.” 

With all the crows cawing around, Dvalishvili soon spotted his fans waving the Georgian national flag and cheering up for him. Without wasting a single moment, he thanked the fans for motivating him. But how could he forget the UFC head honcho? He went on to thank Dana White as well, for making sure the fight materialized.

What are your thoughts on Dvalishvili’s comments? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.