Sean O’Malley will rematch Merab Dvalishvili for the UFC bantamweight belt at UFC 316, and his longtime jiu-jitsu coach Augusto Mendes is confident that a “mature” and injury-free “Suga” will get the job done this time around.
O’Malley lost a decision to Dvalishvili back in September 2024, suffering only the second defeat of his professional MMA career. He has been very vocal about the issues he’s faced prior to UFC 306. Nine months later, Mendes sees O’Malley ready for the task after a “very long” 12-week camp.
A hip injury didn’t allow O’Malley to play guard in camp,. and the only reason the champion agreed to being part of UFC 306 was to headline the historic pay-per-view at The Sphere in Las Vegas. O’Malley has also dealt with injuries before he knocked out Aljamain Sterling to win his first UFC title, and Mendes said it was even worse than the ones he was dealing with pre-UFC 306.
This time, however, “Suga” is bringing his full arsenal for five rounds of championship action. With a new lifestyle, giving up on weed and social media — and recently welcoming his son —, O’Malley is a different man.
“He’s more mature now,” Mendes told MMA Fighting. “He’s 30 now, and he’s enjoyed his 20s like all of us, right? I mean, he more than us because of his status [laughs]. But it’s his evolution as a person.”
“We think Merab didn’t see the best version of ‘Suga’,” he continued. “Merab thinks he knows what is like, but it wasn’t his best last time around. Maybe he’ll be surprised as soon as the fight starts and he sees different movement, different power, better jiu-jitsu. ‘Damn, it’s not like I thought it would be.’ We’re sure of that. ‘Suga’ knows that too. We’re very confident that Merab will see the best version of Sean now.”
Dvalishvili hasn’t lost in more than seven years, and a win puts him only behind Anderson Silva, Kamaru Usman and Islam Makhachev on the list of longest winning streaks in company history at 13. Mendes called Dvalishvili “hittable” going into their first clash, and is confident that his streak ends Saturday.
“[O’Malley] can win in any area,” Mendes said. “He’s well-prepared. He can win via decision if he has to. He’s ready for 25 minutes of war. He’s focused. Merab really is hittable. His approach to the fight was different than his other fights. For [Henry] Cejudo, even Umar [Nurmagomedov], he fought more like a striker. Against Sean he would punch the air from afar and then shoot when in range.
“I think he’ll taunt from the outside and keep his hands up and shoot when in close range, but I believe Sean can win in any area. I’m very confident in a knockout. Maybe there are some surprises on the ground. We know Merab is not easy to tap, but we have some tricks up his sleeve if he gets to a good position.”
