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Former undisputed bantamweight champion, Sean O’Malley has claimed he will be at least “70%” better in his rematch fight against current titleholder and arch-rival, Merab Dvalishvili — with the duo now officially set to rematch at UFC 316 at the beginning of June.
O’Malley, a former bantamweight gold holder, has yet to make good on his return to action since dropping his crown against Georgian star, Dvalishvili in their tense Noche UFC title fight back in September of last year at The Las Vegas Sphere.
Seeing his title run end at just his second attempted title defense, the Montana striker had previously avenged his first professional mixed martial arts loss in a unanimous decision rematch win over Ecuadorian title challenger, Marlon Vera in March of last year.
However, overnight, the bantamweight title picture became a whole lot clearer, with UFC CEO, Dana White confirming O’Malley would be challenging Tbilisi wrestling ace, Dvalishvili in a championship rematch atop June’s return to Newark for UFC 316.
And reacting to the news of his re-run, Contender Series alum, O’Malley revealed that he suffered a groin injury and his documented labrum tear before his title loss to Dvalishvili — vowing to return in “better shape” in their summer rematch.
Sean O’Malley vows “70 percent” improvement in UFC 316 rematch
“My groin kept me up at night because I tore my labrum 10 weeks before the fight, which is where we’re at from the fight right now,” Sean O’Malley said on his podcast. “I tore my groin, my labrum, and I was having serious groin pain. It was just super, it wasn’t ideal.
“And I was thinking about how good I feel right now. I was like, oh, I want to jinx it. But dude, if I can just keep this pace up, how we’ve been able to train these last few weeks, all the way up into the fight, I’m going to feel, I’m going to be 70% better than I was in that first fight,” Sean O’Malley explained. “I’m going to be significantly more mobile, agile, better shape.”
Himself returning at UFC 311 at the beginning of this year, dominant champion, Dvalishvili turned back his first challenger in the form of the unbeaten, Umar Nurmagomedov — handing the Russian star his first-ever loss in combat sports in an impressive unanimous decision victory in California.
