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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Farah Hannoun

Sean O’Malley: Merab Dvalishvili beats ‘broke’ Henry Cejudo at UFC 298

Sean O'Malley thinks Merab Dvalishvili’s drive is bigger than Henry Cejudo’s.

Dvalishvili (16-4 MMA, 9-2 UFC) meets former two-division champion Cejudo (16-3 MMA, 10-3 UFC) at UFC 298 on Feb. 17 from Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., with a main card that airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.

Cejudo retired from MMA in May 2020 after defending the bantamweight title against Dominick Cruz. He returned from a three-year hiatus to challenge then-champion Aljamain Sterling at UFC 288 in May, but suffered a split decision loss.

Dvalishvili, meanwhile, is on a nine-fight winning streak, most recently scoring a shutout of former champ Petr Yan this past March.

Ahead of the marquee matchup, champ O’Malley shared his thoughts on the high-stakes pairing.

“Henry vs. Merab is kind of interesting,” O’Malley said on the “MIGHTYcast” with Demetrious Johnson. “I think it’s going to be a competitive fight. If I had to guess, I think Merab gets it done. I think he’s just in it more. I think Henry’s coming back because he’s broke. He doesn’t have any money. he doesn’t know what else to f*cking do. So, I think Merab might get that one done.”

The winner of Dvalishvili and Cejudo could determine the No. 1 contender for bantamweight champion O’Malley (17-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC), who makes his first title defense in a rematch against Marlon Vera in the UFC 299 headliner March 9 at Kaseya Center in Miami.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 298.

Be sure to visit the MMA Junkie Instagram page and YouTube channel to discuss this and more content with fans of mixed martial arts.

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