Sean O’Malley takes aim at fellow bantamweight contender Merab Dvalishvili

Sean O’Malley has blasted Merab Dvalishvili.

After Aljamain Sterling defended his bantamweight title against Henry Cejudo, O’Malley went into the Octagon to faceoff with ‘Funkmaster’ to set up their fight. Once O’Malley got into the ring, he handed Dvalishvhili his jacket to hold which he ended up putting on and keeping. ‘The Machine’ later said he would return the jacket once Sterling has defeated O’Malley.

“How about this? I’m going to wear this (jacket) until Aljo beat O’Malley. So, I’m keeping this jacket until Aljo beats O’Malley,” Dvalishvili said to Nina-Marie Daniele.

After seeing Dvalishvili’s comments about his jacket, Sean O’Malley took to Twitter to rip the Georgian bantamweight contender.

The most exciting moment in Merabs career was when I gave him my jacket to hold.

— Sean O'Malley (@SugaSeanMMA) May 26, 2023

“The most exciting moment in Merabs career was when I gave him my jacket to hold,” O’Malley wrote on Twitter.

RELATED: Sean O’Malley slams Aljamain Sterling for complaining about August turnaround.

Although O’Malley is set to fight Sterling in the main event of UFC 292 for the bantamweight title, this mini rivalry with Dvalishvili could lead to a fight in the near future.

Following the jacket incident after UFC 288, Sean O’Malley took another shot at Merab Dvalishvili calling him his coat guy.

“I thought that dude was my coat guy,” O’Malley said on The MMA Hour. “I had a coat guy on the night because I knew I was going to take my jacket off, but they didn’t let him in there, so I thought Merab was the coat dude. I had it to Merab, so I can’t even be mad at Merab. I don’t think he’s quite all there, so I don’t want to be a bully, but yeah, he’s a funny character… Merab’s going to stick around for a long time, I do believe that, so that fight’s going to happen regardless.”

Sean O’Malley (16-1 and one No Contest) is coming off the biggest win of his career as he scored a decision win over Petr Yan last October. Prior to that, he had the No Contest against Pedro Munhoz while before that, he beat Raulian Paiva, Kris Moutinho, and Thomas Almeida.

What do you make of Sean O’Malley taking aim at Merab Dvalishvili?