Less than 6 weeks after winning Umar Nurmagomedov and successfully defending the Bantamweight UFC Championship belt, Merab Dvalishvili has a new opponent. According to the announcement from UFC President Dana White, Merab will continue to protect the UFC championship in June, at the UFC 316 event.
Merab's opponent is Sean O'Malley, former champion. Merab and Sean O'Malley met in September 2024, at the UFC 306 event. At that time, the role of the two sides opposite each other compared to now. Sean O'Malley is the reigning champion, and Merab is the challenge and won the point in 5 rounds.
Merab is considered one of the most comprehensive boxers of UFC at the moment. After 2 unpleasant debuts at the end of 2017, early 2018, Merab had a series of 12 consecutive victories. He achieved the condition of the stretching after the 10th victory, when he passed Henry Cejudo.
Also at UFC 316, another belt match will take place in the Bantamweight weight of women. Kayla Harrison, a boxer who won the Judo Olympic gold medal, took only 2 victories to meet the championship stretching conditions. She will encounter Julianna Pena, the defending champion.
One of the reasons why Merab Dvalishvili may have to play continuously in the near future is because UFC is looking for the next star as the tournament center. They are about to enter the process of negotiating a new television copyright package, but there is no worthy star, in the context of Alex Pereira has just received defeat and lost the championship.