Chael Sonnen believes Sean O’Malley should face Merab Dvalishvili, not Umar Nurmagomedov: “They did it to him twice!”
Merab Dvalishvili will face off against Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311 on Jan. 18. According to Chael Sonnen, however, Dvalishvili should be fighting Sean O'Malley in a rematch of their UFC 306 fight, where 'The Machine' was crowned the bantamweight champion.
Sonnen believes the UFC did not allow O'Malley any breathing room as champion, with matchmakers lining up opponents for 'Sugar' to face in double-quick time.
'The American Gangster' shared his thoughts on the bantamweight title picture during a recent interview with The Schmo, saying:
"[O'Malley] should be fighting Merab! They never even gave Sean a chance. They never gave Sean a chance for two in a row. He gets in the ring with [Marlon 'Chito' Vera], and there's Merab, they've already announced he's got to fight Merab after [he fought Vera]."
He continued:
"So they give him the microphone, he starts steering the crowd just as a troll-job towards Ilia Topuria. The crowd goes crazy for it. He has no opportunity to do what he does so well, which is go to a press conference and influence his fans... So he goes and fights Merab to close out the highest gate in the history of the UFC... And they put Umar in the front row and tell [O'Malley] that he's got to fight him... They did it to him twice!"
Catch Chael Sonnen discussing Merab Dvalishvili's next opponent below (11:35):
Dana White shares crazy story about Merab Dvalishvili vs. Umar Nurmagomedov being made
UFC 311 will feature two title fights, with Merab Dvalishvili vs. Umar Nurmagomedov taking place before Islam Makhachev vs. Arman Tsarukyan closes out the show in the main event.
But according to UFC CEO Dana White, the bantamweight title fight was only added to January's pay-per-view card at the last second.
With 'The Machine' having been accused of avoiding Nurmagomedov, he grew tired of being disrespected, per White, who said:
"Just finalized last night, the co-main event will be a bantamweight title fight between the champion, Merab Dvalishvili, and undefeated number one contender Umar Nurmagomedov."
He continued:
"Merab came into the office late last night, told us that he is tired of listening to Umar disrespect him and wanted to make this fight happen as soon as possible. We called Umar, he was sleeping in Dagestan. He said, 'Hell yes, anywhere and anytime."'
Catch Dana White's comments below: