UFC bantamweight champ Sean O’Malley teases September fight with No. 1 ranked Merab Dvalishvili

‘Sugar’ Sean O’Malley appears to be eyeing a return to the Octagon in September.

Last month, O’Malley successfully defended his bantamweight world title for the first time against division rival Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera in the UFC 299 headliner. Sugar’ delivered a dominant performance and scored a clean sweep against the Ecuadorian before calling out newly minuted featherweight king Ilia Topuria for a potential champion vs. champion superfight.

But first, O’Malley has a big problem to deal with in his own weight class. A problem named Merab Dvalishvili. ‘The Machine’ has won 10 straight and currently sits in the No. 1 spot in the bantamweight rankings which undoubtedly makes him the next man in line for a shot at the 135-pound crown.

Conceding to what is right, O’Malley acknowledged that Dvalishvili would be next despite being more interested in a tussle with Topuria. Now, the ‘Sugar Show’ has teased when fight fans might see the epic encounter. Taking to X, O’Malley suggested a potential date with just one word. Technically, two words merged into one word. That’s called a portmanteau.

Is Sean O’Malley targeting UFC 306 in The Sphere?

“Sugtember” O’Malley wrote, clearly teasing a return this September. If that proves to be the case, the fight will likely go down on September 14 when the promotion makes its highly anticipated debut inside The Sphere in Las Vegas for UFC 306.

O’Malley is 18-1 in his mixed martial arts career (19-0 if you asked him) and has 10 total victories inside the Octagon. Last August, he captured the bantamweight belt with a brilliant second-round knockout of ex-champion Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292.

Like O’Malley, Merab Dvalishvili has 10 wins under the UFC banner against just two losses. He has not lost a fight since 2018 and is fresh off an impressive showing against former two-division champion Henry Cejudo at UFC 298 in February.