UFC president Dana White has defended the promotion’s decision to book a rematch between Merab Dvalishvili and Sean O’Malley.
As we know, Merab Dvalishvili and Sean O’Malley are set to run it back at UFC 316 on June 7. It will serve as an immediate rematch for O’Malley, who hasn’t competed since his initial loss to Merab. While it wasn’t all one-way traffic, the majority of people believe that the Georgian decisively won the contest. Since then, he’s also successfully defended the strap against Umar Nurmagomedov.
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As we look ahead to this second encounter between them, there are plenty of questions in the air. Dvalishvili has looked fantastic for the longest time, and he deserves to be UFC bantamweight champion. O’Malley, meanwhile, is quite clearly still an elite fighter within the division, but he needs to find something different in his locker if he’s going to compete with Merab this time around.
It’s a tricky one for sure, especially given how much talent there is at 135 pounds. Alas, this is the direction that the UFC has gone in, and there’s definitely going to be a lot of interest in this one and seeing how it plays out. During the press conference for this upcoming event, Dana White had a simple response for those who questioned why the bout has been made.
Dana White is asked why the UFC booked the rematch between Merab Dvalishvili and Sean O’Malley:
“This is the fight the people wanted to see.”
🎥 @ufc #UFC316pic.twitter.com/Ni2Ab6MoWa
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) April 11, 2025
