Sean O’Malley last competed at UFC 299 where he was successful in defending his bantamweight title against Marlon Vera. ‘Suga’ had earned a unanimous decision win that night and now he is going to defend his title against Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306. Tim Welch coaches the champ and recently during his interview with The Schmo, he said what he was targeting and how ‘Suga’ was preparing for the fight. Let’s take a look.

While Welch did voice that their opponent is dangerous and poses a lot of threat he also clarified that it is where the concentration of  Sean O Malley’s camp lies. He said, “A little bit, I mean, we are still targeting the nose. The nose is still the big target here. I mean the cut is not a big deal. He’s not going to be able to spar. He’s not going to be able to properly grapple live for the next 10 days. Which is kind of important. I mean timing on takedown is important and when you’re not sparring maybe not going to have the best timing. But at the end of the day, it is not going to affect him”.

However, instead of apologizing, ‘Suga’ had a cheeky response to this. Since none of them are backing down, the feud continues.

Sean O’Malley dismisses a jibe from his opponent

In a recent post made on X, he targeted Ilia Topuria and Merab Dvalishvili, by asking “Are all Georgians runts? @illia @MerabDvalishvili”  His opponent did not appreciate this post and retaliated on his social media account. He sent a warning to the Bantamweight  Champion and said, “You want to disrespect me – this is one thing – we will be professional and settle it in the cage… but now you and your coach crossed the line and disrespected my country. You will pay for this when I see you outside of the cage.”

However, O’Malley did not back down and had another reply already for his opponent and he said that he did not know Georgia was a state. This ongoing scuffle has made the fans more excited for the fight, and this is one of the most anticipated bouts of the year. O’Malley was also confident that he could find Dvalishvili’s chin and end the fight. He has already proved through his fight that he has immense stamina and can thrive in high-stakes standings inside the octagon.

While the Georgian fighter has made it clear that the fight is more than a title to him, the American is excited about the added pressure of the bout. Do you think ‘Suga’ is going to be able to win this fight? Is the fight also going to spill out outside the octagon just like The Machine threatened?