LAS VEGAS – The trash discuss between UFC 306 headliners Sean O’Malley and Merab Dvalishvili continued on the occasion’s pre-fight press convention.
All through the construct to their bantamweight title conflict, the champ O’Malley (18-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC) and challenger Dvalishvili (17-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC) have repeatedly exchanged heated phrases, but it surely’s by no means come to some extent the place they felt the necessity to get bodily.
At Thursday’s press convention, which occurred within the car parking zone of Sphere, the venue that hosts Saturday’s pay-per-view occasion (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPNews, ESPN+), the headliners took activates the mic, taking critical digs at each other with a considerably playful tone.
A reporter requested O’Malley if he nonetheless desired to land a boxing match towards Gervonta Davis as one other potential chapter to the one-sided MMA vs. boxing crossover historical past. The champ’s response sparked a back-and-forth with Dvalishvili.
“Yeah, it is dependent upon my performances,” O’Malley mentioned. “I’ve bought to go on the market and knock this dude out with my fingers. I do this a couple of extra occasions, that combat is inevitable.”
Dvalishvili couldn’t let that knockout remark slide with no rebuttal.
“Maintain dreaming, maintain dreaming,” Dvalishvili responded. “No person knock me out but. No person. Maintain dreaming, Sean O’Malley. You don’t knock out ‘Chito’ Vera.”
That’s when O’Malley reminded Dvalishvili what occurred when he challenged his teammate Aljamain Sterling for the bantamweight title at UFC 292 final August.
“I did knock out Aljo although, didn’t I? Didn’t I?” O’Malley quipped.
“That was early stoppage!” Dvalishvili mentioned. “Come on, that was early. You fortunate!”
O’Malley turned up the sarcasm for his ultimate reply of their verbal alternate. He indulged Dvalishvili, saying that his fortunate outcomes maintain recurring all through his UFC profession, resulting in him stopping six opponents in 10 victories.
“That was fortunate as f*ck,” O’Malley mentioned. “I maintain getting fortunate, it’s loopy. Each combat, I get fortunate. In some way, a way, I get fortunate.”
O’Malley was simply the second to complete Sterling within the UFC. The outcome ended “The Funk Grasp’s” title reign of three defenses and sparked O’Malley’s run. “Sugar” will search for his second protection at Noche UFC after a profitable rematch towards Marlon Vera at UFC 299.
“OK, attempt with me. Similar factor,” Dvalishvili mentioned, getting within the final phrase of the alternate.
If O’Malley is appropriate in {that a} knockout will catch “Tank” Davis’ consideration to create a giant crossover bout, he must do one thing that no person has ever performed to Dvalishvili contained in the cage.
Dvalishvili, who enters his first title shot after defeating three former champions, has solely been completed as soon as in his profession in a submission loss to Ricky Simon in 2018. The opposite three losses in his professional profession have come by choice.
The Georgian stays agency in his perception that O’Malley won’t be able to complete him, and is assured he’ll stroll out of the primary reside sporting occasion at Sphere as the brand new champion.
For extra on the cardboard, go to MMA Junkie’s occasion hub for UFC 306.
You should definitely go to the MMA Junkie Instagram web page and YouTube channel to debate this and extra content material with followers of combined martial arts.
