LAS VEGAS – The trash talk between UFC 306 headliners [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] and [autotag]Merab Dvalishvili[/autotag] continued at the event’s pre-fight press conference.
Throughout the build to their bantamweight title clash, the champ O’Malley (18-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC) and challenger Dvalishvili (17-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC) have repeatedly exchanged heated words, but it’s never come to a point where they felt the need to get physical.
At Thursday’s press conference, which took place in the parking lot of Sphere, the venue that hosts Saturday’s pay-per-view event (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPNews, ESPN+), the headliners took turns on the mic, taking serious digs at one another with a somewhat playful tone.
A reporter asked O’Malley if he still desired to land a boxing match against Gervonta Davis as another potential chapter to the one-sided MMA vs. boxing crossover history. The champ’s response sparked a back-and-forth with Dvalishvili.
“Yeah, it depends on my performances,” O’Malley said. “I’ve got to go out there and knock this dude out with my hands. I do that a few more times, that fight is inevitable.”
Dvalishvili couldn’t let that knockout comment slide without a rebuttal.
“Keep dreaming, keep dreaming,” Dvalishvili responded. “Nobody knock me out yet. Nobody. Keep dreaming, Sean O’Malley. You don’t knock out ‘Chito’ Vera.”
That’s when O’Malley reminded Dvalishvili what happened when he challenged his teammate Aljamain Sterling for the bantamweight title at UFC 292 last August.
“I did knock out Aljo though, didn’t I? Didn’t I?” O’Malley quipped.
“That was early stoppage!” Dvalishvili said. “Come on, that was early. You lucky!”
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O’Malley turned up the sarcasm for his final reply in their verbal exchange. He indulged Dvalishvili, saying that his lucky results keep recurring throughout his UFC career, leading to him stopping six opponents in 10 victories.
“That was lucky as f*ck,” O’Malley said. “I keep getting lucky, it’s crazy. Every fight, I get lucky. Somehow, some way, I get lucky.”
O’Malley was just the second to finish Sterling in the UFC. The result ended “The Funk Master’s” title reign of three defenses and sparked O’Malley’s run. “Sugar” will look for his second defense at Noche UFC after a successful rematch against Marlon Vera at UFC 299.
“OK, try with me. Same thing,” Dvalishvili said, getting in the last word of the exchange.
If O’Malley is correct in that a knockout will catch “Tank” Davis’ attention to create a big crossover bout, he will have to do something that nobody has ever done to Dvalishvili inside the cage.
Dvalishvili, who enters his first title shot after defeating three former champions, has only been finished once in his career in a submission loss to Ricky Simon in 2018. The other three losses in his pro career have come by decision.
The Georgian remains firm in his belief that O’Malley will not be able to finish him, and is confident he will walk out of the first live sporting event at Sphere as the new champion.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 306.