Sean O’Malley ‘still delusional’ about beating Merab Dvalishvili... ‘Holloway beat Dustin in his third fight’

With Sean O'Malley confident about his chances against Merab Dvalishvili in a potential trilogy fight, punters might consider betting on O'Malley as he believes he can turn the tables, mirroring Max Holloway's success after multiple encounters with a rival.

A recent result has given former UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley another boost in confidence. O’Malley was submitted by Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 316 in June. The result marked his second straight loss to the current champion, with ‘Sugar’ having previously been unseated by the Georgian at the Sphere in September 2024.

The recent defeat came in spite of O’Malley eliminating key distractions from his life, recovering from the torn labrum he sustained prior to the pair’s fight, and enjoying the kind of full camp he did not have before UFC 306 last year.

Given that he was still unable to trouble Dvalishvili inside the cage, many have written off any chance of the American if the pair ever meet in a trilogy.

In a recent video posted to his X account, O’Malley called Dvalishvili’s third defense a “coin flip” while looking ahead to the next fight in the division he formerly ruled over. Despite being firmly out of the title picture for the time being, ‘Suga’ will still have a close eye on the UFC 320 co-main event in October, perhaps hoping that a shock win for Cory Sandhagen will pave the way for a quicker-than-expected return to a championship fight.

Even if ‘The Sandman’ falls short, though, O’Malley still believes he can be the one to stop ‘The Machine’. While he admitted that might be a “delusional” theory, the Montana native pointed to Max Holloway’s recent win over Dustin Poirier as proof that it sometimes takes three attempts to beat a rival.

“I truly believed that I was going to go out and make Merab look stupid,” O’Malley said of his defeat in Newark. “I’m still so delusional that I still think I can beat Merab. “Max Holloway beat Dustin in his third fight, lost the first two. So never say never,” O’Malley added.

Sean O’Malley has reversed the changes he made for the Merab Dvalishvili rematch. A few weeks after UFC 316, O’Malley reversed the lifestyle changes he made for UFC 316. ‘Suga’ eliminated marijuana and high social media activity in the lead-up to his title challenge. But with that now in the past, O’Malley announced that he is back to his former self.

“Alright guys, last six months I have been completely off social media,” O’Malley said in a video on his Instagram Stories. “I was not really creating a lot of content. “But I feel rejuvenated. I feel like I am excited to create content again. So we are gonna be posting a lot of content. I’ve got a new business coming out. “I am excited to get the creative juices going,” O’Malley added.

A recent result has given former UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley another boost in confidence. O’Malley was submitted by Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 316 in...

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