Sean O'Malley accurately predicted Merab Dvalishvili vs. Henry Cejudo.
Dvalishvili (17-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC) overwhelmed former dual-champion Cejudo (16-4 MMA, 10-4 UFC) to win a unanimous decision on Saturday’s UFC 298 main card at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.
Bantamweight champion O’Malley picked Dvalishvili to win, and thought he put on a solid performance.
“It’s interesting watching fights live compared to on the TV,” O’Malley told ESPN on the UFC 298 post-fight show. “I’d like to watch it back on the TV to really give a full input. It was decent. I heard rumors that Henry had some injuries going into the fight. He looked a little winded, but Merab looked good. Decent little fight from a couple little dudes.”
O’Malley (17-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) makes his first title defense in a rematch against Marlon Vera in the UFC 299 headliner March 9 at Kaseya Center in Miami. UFC CEO Dana White declared Dvalishvili the No. 1 contender to challenge for the title, but O’Malley is currently focused on his fight.
“Three weeks, UFC 299, everything’s going so good,” O’Malley said. “I’ve got to get through ‘Chito’ before I can start saying I might fight him, I might fight this guy.”
O’Malley will look to avenge the lone loss of his career which came to Vera in August 2020. He hopes to mirror Israel Adesanya’s revenge knockout against Alex Pereira at UFC 287, which also took place in Miami.
“I’m pretty sure Israel Adesanya knocked out Alex Pereira in the rematch, am I right?” O’Malley said. “Interesting.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 298.
