Most UFC fans are aware of the ritual that the #1 ranked contender gets the next shot at the divisional championship. But this ritual was violated in the current UFC Bantamweight champ, Sean O’Malley’s case. Most UFC fans might know that ‘Sugar’ held the #2 rank among the Bantamweights of the promotion while he received his title shot. This might also raise a question about why the #1 ranked UFC Bantamweight contender, Merab Dvalishvili, was deprived of a title shot.

But a large chunk of UFC fans probably know the answer to this as well. The former Bantamweight champ, Aljamain Sterling, shares a deep bond of friendship with the Georgian, Dvalishvili. Even though the UFC authorities were willing to grant him a title shot a few months back, Dvalishvili refrained from accepting it. He didn’t want to fight his dearest friend and teammate. But now that ‘Aljo’ has lost out the title to O’Malley, a number of fans might feel it’s time for Dvalishvili to avenge his friend’s loss.

Will Merab Dvalishvili get the next shot at the UFC Bantamweight gold?

It’s quite apparent that a healthy chunk of fans will wish to see Dvalishvili get a shot at O’Malley’s UFC Bantamweight gold. But they will probably have to wait for some time before this bout can actually materialize. Even if the Georgian gets ready to become ‘Sugar’s’ next opponent, it is O’Malley’s plans that will prevent him from getting the coveted title shot.

In his UFC 292 post-fight octagon interview, O’Malley expressed his desire for a rematch against the noted UFC Bantamweight, Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera. After a bit of bragging, Sugar turned his attention toward his preferred opponent, Vera, and said, “Did Chito win? I will whoop Chito’s a** in December in Vegas, T-Mobile lets fu**ing go baby”.

Hence, it’s quite apparent that even if O’Malley decides to go for a title defense next, it will probably be against ‘Chito.’ In such a situation, there will be no other option for Dvalishvili but to wait for O’Malley to accept a bout against him.

Sean O’Malley also has other plans apart from going for a title defense next

Although O’Malley revealed the timeline of his fight with Vera in his post-fight interview, he also hinted that his current plan was to step out of MMA and go for a boxing bout. During the post-UFC 292 press conference, a reporter wanted to know whether O’Malley’s had thoughts of taking on any other Bantamweight other than Vera. Most fans would have expected him to call out some other UFC Bantamweight. But, O’Malley said, “Gervonta”.

A large chunk of fans have probably realized that O’Malley wanted to set foot inside the boxing ring just like the noted UFC star, Conor McGregor. It was also apparent that he wanted to take on the famed boxer, Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis, in his initial boxing bout.

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Well, Dvalishvili’s waiting time for a title shot will rather increase if this scenario comes to be true. Quite understandably, O’Malley will require time to recover after his boxing bout against Davis. Due to this, he also might fail his given timeline of taking on ‘Chito’ in December this year. Hence, it will also increase the waiting time for Dvalishvili as well.

How soon do you think Merab Dvalishvili will get a shot at Sean O’Malley’s UFC Bantamweight gold? Will he be able to avenge his friend’s loss?

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