Sean O’Malley is such a fan of marijuana, he’s even got his own custom strain.
But the UFC bantamweight champion may be too stoned to intelligently defend himself against Merab Dvalishvili, who is expected to get the next crack at the 135-pound crown at some point later this year.
That’s why “The Machine” is teaching fake “Suga” a lesson in losing.
“It’s hard to recognize him because he’s smoking too much,” Dvalishvili said. “We have lots of work to do. Sean, listen bro, you have a big fight. You’re fighting me. You gotta stop smoking, my friend.”
O’Malley (18-1, 1 NC) captured the crown by stopping Aljamain Sterling in the UFC 292 main event last August, then returned at UFC 299 in Miami to whoop Marlon Vera. As for Dvalishvili (17-4), he’s coming off a dominant performance against Henry Cejudo at UFC 298 last Feb. in Anaheim, which also came with a pre-fight lesson from the inimitable Professor Merab.
UFC is expected to announce a date and location in the coming weeks.