Dvalishvili and O’Malley will meet again in the main event of UFC 316, which takes place this weekend at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. It’s a fight that offers O’Malley the chance to put things right second time around after losing his belt to the Georgian. But for Dvalishvili, it’s an opportunity to turn his first-fight dominance into a finish in the rematch.
“This time I’ll be more focused on the finish and more focused on damage,” Dvalishvili told reporters during his media day session in Newark.
“The first fight it was too easy, and I was too relaxed. I saw everything and controlled everything.
“I did kiss him and I did make fun of him, but this time I’m going to focus more on finishing, which is what I worked on. So yeah, that’s what I’m looking forward to.”
That focus on a finish means that Dvalishvili will be leaving his crowd-pleasing in-fight antics to one side and will instead be chasing a stoppage victory. O’Malley, who has made significant changes to his approach ahead of the fight, will certainly be doing the same.
It should make for an entertaining rematch, with Dvalishvili keen to put an exclamation point on his victory in their second meeting.
“I’m ready for a hard, hard fight,” he said.
“I’m expecting the best Sean O’Malley, in the best shape ever. And, like I said before, I’m looking for the finish, but if I have to beat the s**t out of him in five rounds, I’m ready to do that, too.”
Despite his desire to put a beating on his opposite number on fight night, Dvalishvili did reveal the respect he has for O’Malley, and said that he appreciated his rival’s more respectful approach to fight week, compared to their first meeting.
“This is cool. Just respect each other,” he said.
“I respect him as a fighter, and so it’s nice to hear him respect me, too. To be honest, I’d rather he still talking trash. It will be so much better, you know, but it’s all good. This is good.
“I’m good, man. We just have to focus (on the) fight, and then this fight will be much better, because this time, no excuses, I’ll get much better, and I’m gonna look for the finish.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1gOk3Hsgiw
