Merab Dvalishvili pities Sean O'Malley: 'I stole his jacket, I stole his belt, I stole his fans, I make him humble'

Merab Dvalishvili has taken the bantamweight reins and run with them since claiming the UFC title against Sean O’Malley this past September, with plenty of banter being volleyed between the two camps.

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Now Dvalishvili and O’Malley are set to run things back at UFC 316 on June 7 in Newark, New Jersey — and the rivals have been surprisingly cordial in recent encounters despite their fiery history.

“He’s funny, he’s cute, and he’s good fighter too,” Dvalishvili said Tuesday on Uncrowned’s “The Ariel Helwani Show.” “I have only have positive feelings [about O’Malley], other than he was talking stupid about my friend Aljamain Sterling.

“I feel bad, actually, for this guy. I stole his jacket, I stole his belt, I stole his fans. I made him humble. He’s different guy now. Good for him, and good for me too, how everything happened. Life is good, camp is good. I’m grateful for everything.”

Regardless of how personal the beef with O’Malley became during the build to their first fight at UFC 306, Dvalishvili maintains there was never any real disdain for the colorful American on his side. However, the same can’t be said for O’Malley’s head coach Tim Welch, who drew Dvalishvili’s ire for his pre-fight and in-fight antics during that September title bout.

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Since the rematch was announced, O’Malley and Welch both spoke on their “TimboSugarShow” podcast and sung Dvalishvili’s praises. Any bad blood from O’Malley’s side has seemingly dissipated, as evidenced by his Monday conversation with Uncrowned.

Yet as nice as it’s been to hear praise from his challenger this time around, Dvalishvili isn’t sure how to feel.

“It was weird, because they were talking so nice to me,” Dvalishvili said. “Of course, everybody likes compliments, but it was weird feeling. I feel like a friend with them. Even Tim, the guy I don’t like, when he was talking nice, my heart warmed a little bit. Like, no, no, don’t do this, guys. I need to be mad about you. That was a weird feeling.

“I don’t hate Sean O’Malley, I just want to fight with him. Tim, he did make big mistakes. He should be professional coach, but he’s not a professional coach. He tried to cheat. He’s a cheater coach. He tried disrespect [me], and that’s why I was talking trash. That’s what happened.

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“I’m a professional fighter, and I made this mistake only one time when I had my debut in UFC. I looked at my opponent and I was like, ‘I don’t want to punch you,'” Dvalishvili added. “After I get some controversial loss like this, I learned. I don’t think I’m going to make mistakes, even if I like my opponent. I will be professional and I’ll be same guy, and I’ll fight hard.”

Dvalishvili’s rematch with O’Malley will mark the second title defense for the Georgian champion after notching his first in a hard-fought unanimous decision over Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311 in January.

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O’Malley, meanwhile, has been on the mend after undergoing surgery for a torn labrum following his title loss.

Dvalishvili, 34, has maintained a busy schedule as a fighter and plans to stick to it as a champion. That’s one of the main reasons he doesn’t see a problem with O’Malley getting an immediate title shot rematch.

“I understand why people say what they say, but I think I’ll be busy anyway,” Dvalishvili said. “So I’m going to fight O’Malley. Me, I don’t look as an easy fight. We know he has knockout power. I’m not looking at this fight as easy, actually. It’s not like that. I don’t want to forget I was training hard for when I fought him first time. Then, I was game.

“O’Malley, he hits hard. Even when he just touched me a little bit, I felt his power. The guy can crack. So I have to be smart and I have to be patient in this fight. I’m sure he will make adjustments and defend the takedowns better, then he will be going forward this time. It’s going to be a totally different fight. Rematches don’t always go like the first fight. It’s going to be different.

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“I’m happy. I think a lot of people criticized O’Malley getting a rematch,” Dvalishvili added. “I think he deserves it, and I want to find out too. He made lots of excuses after the fight, and now he did surgery, and I know he will make adjustments and he will change game plans. It’s going to be a totally different fight, but if not, like O’Malley say, ‘If you don’t like it, don’t watch it.'”

Dvalishvili spoke almost favorably of O’Malley’s chances against him after getting 25 minutes of experience in the Octagon together, but the risk for O’Malley is abundantly clear: Lose twice to the same champion in the UFC and suddenly you find yourself stuck in career limbo.

From Dvalishvili’s seat, he feels more lax with the reversed roles. He knows each side of the rivalry is going to look to make their statements in different ways at UFC 316.

“This is good fight for Sean because, like I said, he’s fighting same guy,” Dvalishvili said. “He will make adjustments. He remembers everything from the last fight. And now if he [fought] somebody else [first before rematching me], he will focus on somebody, then he comes back — it’s going to be too much. Now his head will just [be about] me. He has a nightmare, stopping my takedowns, punching me hard, kicking me. I think this is good for him. I think this is good chance for him to avenge his loss.

“I want to show my striking skills, too. My goal will be to stop him, TKO him or knockout. It’s going to be a great fight and I’m excited for it.”