"He don't even shake my hand" - Merab Dvalishvili details backstage encounter with Sean O'Malley after UFC 299
Merab Dvalishvili recently detailed his backstage encounter with Sean O'Malley following UFC 299 and sounded off on him for how he handled their interaction.
'Sugar' successfully retained his bantamweight championship after earning a unanimous decision win over Marlon 'Chito' Vera and then proceeded to call out Ilia Topuria and completely ignore 'The Machine', who had weighed in as the backup fighter and was in attendance. He was clearly upset with the bantamweight champion as he believes he could have used his post-fight interview to build up a fight between the two of them.
While speaking to MMA Fighting, Dvalishvili said that O'Malley wasn't very cordial towards him and appeared to dismiss the idea of fighting him next. He said:
"I was mad [that he didn't mention my name] and then I moved backstage and then he's coming. You know, I want to shake his hand and say, 'Congratulations', to him and then when I touch his hand and I said, 'Congratulations, bro', he kind of ignored me like, since [the] beginning. He don't even look [at] me and then again, I'm mad again, like look [at] me and shake my hand. He don't even shake my hand." [7:38 - 8:09]
Check out the full video below:
Sean O'Malley responds to Merab Dvalishvili
After wrapping up a number of interviews following his successful title defense, Sean O'Malley responded to Merab Dvalishvili.
'The Machine' had blasted the bantamweight champion for ignoring him following his win, and so he took to his X account to respond. O'Malley mentioned that he wants to fight him next and is already predicting that next year will be even better for him. He wrote:
"I want Marab. 2025 will be legendary"
![O'Malley's tweet responding to Dvalishvili [Image courtesy: @SugaSeanMMA - X]](https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2024/03/30005-17105321038780-1920.jpg?w=500)
Whether the bantamweight champion is insinuating that their bout won't take place until 2025 or if he is targeting 2025 for a potential move to 145 pounds for a champion vs. champion bout remains to be seen.