Former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson thinks Sean O’Malley’s first title defense should be against Aljamain Sterling’s teammate, Merab Dvalishvili.
He likes the storyline, and Dvalishvili has certainly earned a title shot. He’s riding an incredible nine-fight winning streak and ranked second in the bantamweight division. The only reason why Dvalishvili hasn’t fought for the championship is Sterling was the champion and they refused to fight one another.
“I want to see him fight Merab because I believe Merab is on a win streak. He is on a win streak. I think that gets looked way over nowadays. Back in the past, if you’ve got a three, four, or five-fight win streak in a division, you’re going to get that next title shot,” Johnson said on his YouTube channel.
“I would love to see Merab get the opportunity to fight “Suga” Sean O’Malley, get revenge for his buddy Aljamain Sterling… I would love to see Merab get his opportunity to fight for a world title now that Aljamain Sterling is not the champion.”
O’Malley isn’t sure who he wants to fight next. He has a lot of options to chose from, if he gets to pick. Following his UFC 292 win over Sterling, O’Malley called out Marlon “Chito” Vera for a rematch.
He and Vera fought at UFC 252 in August 2020. Vera won by TKO, but O’Malley suffered a leg injury in the bout. It’s a loss O’Malley would like to avenge.
https://www.mmaweekly.com/ufcnews/demetrious-johnson-thinks-sean-omalley-should-fight-merab-dvalishvili-next