Having fought (and lost) to Merab Dvalishvili twice, Sean O’Malley is something of an expert when it comes to facing “The Machine.” In a new video on YouTube, “Suga” lays out what needs to be done if someone wants to end Dvalishvi’s dominant bantamweight title reign.
“He’s very confident right now in his stand-up, and he can be because his opponent is gonna back up and nothing really happens,” O’Malley said. “Or they’re gonna stand and try to trade and he’ll crack ’em, try to fall into a single leg,
or they’re gonna get cracked with a right hand.”
“To beat Merab, you just gotta land that shot. You have to be able to f–king snipe him. And he’s getting a little more reckless. The more confident in his striking he gets, the more gaps he leaves open to be caught.”
“I don’t see anyone else being able to beat him,” O’Malley continued. “I do think I’m the only — I hate to say it, I hate to f–king say it! I’m the only one who can beat him! Give me that shot at the White House! But I gotta go out there against someone, I gotta go get some wins.”
“But I don’t really see anyone beating Merab any time soon. He needs to be clipped, he needs to be knocked out, put to sleep to beat him. And I don’t really see anyone other than myself being able to do it.”
Dvalishvili took the belt off O’Malley in September 2024 and then followed that up with a win over grappling specialist Umar Nurmagomedov. He beat O’Malley even worse in their June 2025 rematch, and just took out a well-rounded and determined Cory Sandhagen at UFC 320, making it look easy.
Stylistically he’s gone through the three big types of fighters that should have given him trouble with ease. The only thing left is for him to survive against a one-punch knockout artist, of which there are none at the top of bantamweight at this time.
O’Malley may be the best sniper in the division but he’s known for wearing down his opponents with his accuracy and volume. That gave Dvalishvili more than enough time in both their matches to implement his own gameplan and smother “Suga.” Even Sean admitted it would take an over-confident Merab engaging in more striking for him to have a chance … and we just don’t see the fight staying upright long enough for that to happen.
The answer to “The Machine” may be simple, but the execution is anything but. We’ll see if any of the remaining top contenders at 135 are able to pull it off.
