Merab Dvalishvili's coach doesn't think Sean O'Malley deserved an immediate rematch
The bantamweight title changed hands at UFC 306 last September.
Merab Dvalishvili dethroned Sean O'Malley at The Sphere in Las Vegas to capture the 135-pound championship. The two will rematch in the UFC 316 main event on June 7 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Advertisement
Following their first fight, O'Malley went into surgery while Dvalishvili defended his title for the first time. O'Malley hasn't fought since the UFC 306 loss, and Dvalishvili's coach, John Wood, doesn't think O'Malley deserves an immediate rematch.
"I believe, first and foremost, I'll say it time and time again, the UFC knows what they're doing. They are way smarter than any of us when it comes to the business of it, so I never knock the on who deserves, or who should, who should this," Wood said during an interview with Submission Radio.
"When it comes to making those decisions, they make the best decisions. Sometimes it's not the decisions we want as fans, or fighters and coaches and teams, but it is what it is," Wood continued.
"Do I personally think he should have had to fought somebody else? Yes. I do in the realm of the rankings a who's there. I think it would have been a bigger buildup."
Advertisement
Related: Former UFC champion Sean O'Malley explains why he stopped smoking weed
While Wood would have liked for O'Malley to fight his way back to a title bout, he also recognizes the star power of the former titleholder.
"O'Malley has a huge fanbase, though," Wood said. "He has star power. I don't know how much that plays into this fight anymore. But I would have liked to have seen him maybe fight [Petr] Yan again and had to fight a true contender or something to get back to the title. But again, that's not our decision.
"My personal opinion, unless you've defended that belt multiple times and you've become a guy like [Valentina] Shevchenko, [Zhang] Weili, or even [Alex] Pereira, or [Israel] Adesanya. These guys that defended those belts, like Jon Jones. If you lose that belt, I believe you've been at the top for so long that maybe it was an off night and you have the chance to get that belt back," Dvalishvili's coach continued.
"That's my opinion. Getting those instant rematches are for somebody who has defended multiple, multiple times and is basically a legend in the sport. I don't think that's the case here."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
3 hours ago
- USA Today
Three-week rollercoaster: Klaudia Sygula hit full reset after unfortunate circumstances rocked UFC debut
Klaudia Sygula hasn't been on the roster for long, but there have been more ups and downs than many UFC athletes encounter in their entire careers. If the name isn't ringing a bell, Sygula (6-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) gets why. Her debut wasn't great. She knows it, but says that wasn't her. Even as she tries to explain the circumstances of her second-round TKO loss to Melissa Mullins in November, she cuts herself off at even the slightest chance her reasoning could be construed as an excuse. But she pushes through, because a story is a story. Three weeks before that November fight, is when the UFC offer – her dream – came true. Sygula was initially an economics major. She's smart, her grades were good, and school was the priority. When she first signed up for a karate gym, the coach scolded her because of her lack of dedication. But her passion was in the classroom until MMA took over her life and became her obsession. So when that offer came through from Mick Maynard, Sygula couldn't say no. But the time period leading up to that seven-and-a-half minutes inside the cage was a fight within itself. "To be honest, my debut was not good," Sygula recently told MMA Junkie. "One day after I got the UFC contract, my coach ended up in prison. It was not an easy situation for me." Renowned Polish coach Andrzej Koscielski was arrested in October. His arrest was reportedly linked to a 22-year-old murder cold case. Koscielski remains in prison. "He's still in prison. It is not an easy situation," Sygula said. "I think I shouldn't talk more about it. At this moment, it was really hard for me because I was left alone and I had to rely only on myself, so it was not easy." It's never ideal to have to find a new training home as a fighter. But three weeks before your big break fight? Even worse. Sygula's boyfriend and another relatively inexperienced training partner made the trek over to the United States – but it's a trip that almost didn't even happen. It wasn't until Tuesday of fight week that Sygula secured her travel papers. "I took this fight as a replacement," Sygula said. "I wasn't in good shape. I'm not looking for excuses, but the situation was not easy. I didn't have visa. It was hard to take a replacement. I had 12 kilograms to cut. It was not a good camp and I was not in good shape – and this was my debut in the UFC. I didn't show myself and it hurt the most." "I got my fight three weeks before, but I got my visa on Tuesday. On Wednesday, I had flight. On Thursday, I was in Las Vegas. I had to make my weight. On Friday, was the weigh-ins and Saturday, the fight. At that moment, I thought, 'It's not important for me. I'm ready and everything is OK.'" The loss was a disappointment for Sygula, who had to reroute her whole career in the wake of victory. However, as fate as it, Sygula wasn't the only Polish fighter on her debut card. Former UFC title challenger Karolina Kowalkiewicz fought on the same card and lost. The two met up in the hotel afterward, and Sygula found the positive change she was in dire need of. "(Kowalkiewicz) came with her coach Marcos 'Parrumpa' (De Matta) and that is how I met him," Sygula said. "Unfortunately, we both lost our fights. After the event, we met together in her room to talk about this, to cry together, to eat something. I talked a lot with her coach, with coach Marcos. He convinced me to come to Florida, to ATT. He said one important sentence that stayed with me, which was if I want to be a professional fighter, I have to have professional people around me. I was thinking a lot about this. I thought that I have to change something if I want to stay in the UFC, if I want to change something. I made the decision that I'd come to ATT for the first time to see how it works, to see how their coaches are and how their sparring partners are." For this camp, Sygula found herself brushing shoulders, grappling, and sparring with the likes of Dakota Ditcheva, Kayla Harrison, Bia Mesquita, Yana Santos, and others. She enters her second promotional appearance Saturday at UFC on ABC 8 in Baku, Azerbaijan feeling like a totally different fighter. "I'm sure they will see me, 'real' Klaudia," Sygula said. "Because in the first fight, I didn't show anything. As I've said before, the UFC deserves more. The people, my supporters, they deserve more. I hope that this time, they will see, 'real' Klaudia. I think that will be a better version of me."
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Video: Mariya Agapova kisses Jessica Eye on the mouth during BKFC faceoff
Two former UFC fighters shared a kiss during BKFC 76 pre-fight faceoffs, though one was not happy. While fighters occasionally get physical during their final opportunity to mean-mug their opponent, it's not usually in the way Mariya Agapova did it Friday when she kissed Jessica Eye on the mouth. Advertisement Eye was not a consenting party in the lip-locking. She appeared caught off guard by the action and vented some frustration toward Agapova moments later. The maneuver could add an additional layer of heat to Saturday's matchup, which takes place on the main card at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Video: Former UFC fighters unexpectedly kiss during BKFC 76 faceoff
USA Today
4 hours ago
- USA Today
2025 PFL 6 video: Gadzhi Rabadanov destroys Kevin Lee in lopsided few minutes
GADZHI RABADANOV DOMINATES KEVIN LEE FOR A FIRST ROUND VICTORY!#PFLWorldTournament LIVE NOW🇺🇸 ESPN & ESPN+🌎 Gadzhi Rabadanov barely broke a sweat inside the PFL cage Friday in Wichita, Kan. In the 2025 PFL World Tournament 6 main event, Rabadanov (26-4-2) defeated Lee (20-9) via TKO due to punches at 2:37 of Round 1. The fight served as one of two lightweight tournament semifinal bouts at INTRUST Bank Arena. From the beginning of the fight, nearly every punch that hit Lee squarely got a noticeable reaction out of him. Rabadanov put Lee on roller skates more than once. Lee hit the deck on multiple occasions as he tried to either regain his balance or scramble for a leg. Before long, Rabadanov landed the finishing combination. Lee went face down and Rabadnov hit him once more before referee Jason Herzog jumped in. Rabadanov will face Alfie Davis in the lightweight tournament final Aug. 15 in Charlotte, N.C.. He entered the 2025 calendar as the 2024 PFL lightweight champion. A protege of Khabib Nurmagomedov, Rabadanov rides a 12-fight winning streak dating back to December 2020. Lee, 32, entered the tournament as an alternate to replace the injured Jay Jay Wilson. The bout was his PFL debut and only his second in MMA since his one-off return with the UFC in July 2023. Full 2025 PFL 6 results
