Could Conor McGregor be the missing element Sean O’Malley needs to beat Merab Dvalishvili? If so, now is the best time for O’Malley to cash in on a bumper offer from ‘Mystic Mac.’ The pair had gotten on the wrong side of each other over the last few months after McGregor decided to go off on ‘Suga’ for his past PED violations. Since then, O’Malley went from ‘champion’ to ‘former champion’, courtesy of a lackluster outing against Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306. One month removed from the PPV and lo behold, McGregor has a solution to that puzzle as well.

“Me and Conor have been going back and forth here, there, whatever. At the end of the day, I’m always going to… he played an important role in my career, so it’s always going to be, you know, an inspiration to me at some point,” O’Malley said on the ‘Join The Lobby’ podcast. In response, ‘Mystic Mac’ stated on X, “Sean is a fighting legend! UFC champion and an incredible superstar! I would love, love, love to see, and I can set it up fully, himself and his long time coach, Tim Welch, do a stint in Ireland. A 4 week run at SBG Ireland under Johns coaching and I am telling you he would regain his title.”

The statement continued, “He has a shot at regaining it still for sure, but for himself, and also his coach to spend a good month, to begin with, not a long time, but a good solid month under coach Kav at SBG and they would take heaps of knowledge back with them and onward to regain the Gold. I would love to see it!”

This offer could not have come at a better time. Responding to a video of O’Malley and Tim Welch talking about a rematch for the title, Merab Dvalishvili wrote, “Let’s Go 🦾 …. I will try to not kiss you this time.”

During his conversation with his coach, Tim Welch, on his YouTube talk show, O’Malley revealed that he wanted to fight the bantamweight champion once again. He said, “I’m fighting Merab. Merab vs. ‘Suga’ 2 is happening. I’m manifesting. I don’t give a f–-k about anything else.” Where does that leave the consensus title contender Umar Nurmagomedov?

The Dagestani fighter was at the Sphere for the showdown between O’Malley and Dvalishvili. He was all smiles when Dvalishvili did not mention his name during the Octagon interview. After all, he was all set to fight the winner of the bout, who turned out to be ‘The Machine’ but it seems like the Georgian has other preferences. Reflecting on that, ‘Suga’ continued, “I don’t know what’s going on with Umar and Merab. Umar said he’ll fight, that he wants to fight this year, but Merab said he doesn’t want to fight this year.” 

However, Welch reminded Sean O’Malley that the Georgian mixed martial artist wanted to have a rematch against him in November. And the Montana native said, “I’m here for it. Don’t rematch. Wait. I mean, don’t fight him. Wait for me. I’ll be ready in March. Let’s get it! Let’s run it back. Manifesting and putting it out there. That’s happening. Suga vs. Merab 2. Oh, I love it. Okay, wait. It’s gonna be better.” No doubt, he was pretty frustrated with losing the bout at UFC 306 and has plans to rise victorious in the rematch, if it happens in March 2025.

While O’Malley probably had been planning to have a rematch against Dvalishvili for a long time now, some fight fans believed that it was Conor McGregor who pushed ‘Suga’ to opt for a rematch. After all, he did extend a helping hand to the Montana native. As it turns out, the bantamweight is planning to replicate some of McGregor’s success.

Conor McGregor is key to ‘Suga’s resurgence in the UFC

Despite the heat between them, Conor McGregor took to his X handle to praise O’Malley for his fighting prowess and offered to host them at SBG Ireland. In a conversation on the ‘Join The Lobby’ podcast, ‘Suga’ revealed that he wanted all the big fights to his name. He even called out the winner of Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway. And it’s all because he wanted to feel like McGregor. He said, “Me fighting Ilia or Max would have given you that almost Conor-like feel, like, ‘Oh s–t, I cannot wait for that fight.’ That’s what I want to do—I want big fights.”

With McGregor’s training regime aiming to buff up O’Malley’s skills, a rematch surely seems like the best move for him to reclaim his throne in the bantamweight realm. But the outcome of the fight is something that only time has the power to tell.

Besides, a lot of fighters try to share the spotlight with Conor McGregor when they get the chance. The Irishman has shown a great deal of support to both Aljamain Sterling and Merab Dvalishvili, but O’Malley is the first one he has graciously offered to host in his gym. Perhaps he could walk away with more than just Coach Kavanagh’s MMA knowledge.

What are your thoughts about the challenge for a rematch? Should O’Malley train at SBG? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.