First and foremost, Sean O’Malley wants to become champion at UFC 292. But make no mistake, he’s still a prize fighter.
O’Malley made that clear when addressing his future with a possible win over Aljamain Sterling on Saturday. He is already plotting the course for a return to action in December, and in a perfect world, the always-colorful bantamweight would love the chance to rematch Marlon “Chito” Vera — the only loss on his professional record — rather than seek out somebody like Merab Dvalishvili, who is ranked higher with a longer current winning streak.
“If you asked me what fight is bigger, me versus ‘Chito’ rematch, or me versus Merab? I’m pretty sure we could all agree on which one is bigger,” O’Malley said during UFC 292 media day.
“I’m in the fight business. I’ve been saying that. I’ve never been afraid to say that. This is a business to me. Who makes more money — me versus Merab or me versus ‘Chito?’ It’s very simple to me.”
On paper, Dvalishvili is definitely the more deserving candidate, especially after he dominated ex-bantamweight champion Petr Yan in his most recent fight. Add to that, he is a longtime teammate and close friend of Sterling, so that would only add to the intensity in a potential fight with O’Malley.
The only problem is, O’Malley just doesn’t see Dvailishvili as a money fight. He claimed he didn’t even recognize the Georgian bantamweight during an altercation in May when he walked in the octagon to face off with Sterling, who’d just defeated Henry Cejudo at UFC 288, and Dvalishvili took his jacked and jumped on top of the cage.
“I didn’t recognize Merab,” O’Malley said. “How funny is that? I thought he was just a f****** worker. I handed Merab my jacket. That’s hilarious. I didn’t know who Merab was. That’s funny. I find it very funny.”
When it comes a Vera rematch, O’Malley knows without hesitation that fight will put butts in seats. Vera finished their first fight with a series of elbows and punches on the ground after O’Malley suffered a leg injury.
Despite claiming that he’s still undefeated regardless of the result of that fight, O’Malley can’t deny he would love to get that one back against Vera.
“The rematch needs to happen,” O’Malley said. “Everyone, even ‘Chito’ himself truly knows that wasn’t a win.
“I’ve always wanted to get that one back, and they’re like, ‘Why don’t you rematch him right away?’ I’ll do it when the time is right.”
Of course, Vera still has to get through his own fight, against Pedro Munhoz, on Saturday. O’Malley definitely wants Vera to win, but he also has a sneaky suspicion the fight won’t play out like the war many predict.
“God, I want to be like, ‘Yeah, it will be exciting,’ but for some reason, I feel like it’s going to be so boring,” O’Malley said. “I feel like it’s going to be Pedro kind of not wanting to engage on the outside, trying to kick his legs. ‘Chito,’ we saw his last performance against Cory [Sandhagen]. There’s a possibility it could be a very exciting fight. I feel like it might be really boring.
“I’m hoping ‘Chito’ wins. Me versus ‘Chito’ rematch in December, Vegas, title defense. That sounds wonderful. I love that. So ideally ‘Chito.’”
