The upcoming UFC 306 pay-per-view (PPV) card, booked for Sat., Sept. 14, 2024 at The Sphere in Las Vegas, Nevada, already has one championship backup fighter and now reigning bantamweight titleholder, Sean O’Malley, is campaigning for another.
Paging Umar Nurmagomedov!
“Umnar wax that unibrow just in case Merat pulls out,” O’Malley wrote on Twitter.
O’Malley’s opponent, No. 1-ranked bantamweight contender Merab Dvalishvili, made the “stupid” decision to post a training camp cut on social media, an injury that is likely to become a target when “Suga” takes the cage next month in “Sin City.”
Or maybe it’s much ado about nothing.
“Everyone is making a much bigger deal over ‘the little cut,’ even [Dana White],” teammate Aljamain Sterling wrote on Twitter. “Merab shares his stories of training camp, the good, the bad, the ugly, and people LOVE him for it. There’s nothing ‘stupid’ about it, period. He’s training, and will show up Sept 14, like he always does. Is this about betting lines? Is it about a fight cancelation? Respectfully, this reaction was a bit over the top IMHO.”
White has never been a huge Dvalishvili fan (because of this).
Nurmagomedov (18-0) is currently seated just behind Dvalishvili at No. 2 in the official bantamweight rankings (see them here) and could be next in line for a 135-pound title shot in early 2025 — or sooner, if the promotion needs to fix “The Machine.”
That might even earn Dvalishvili a third spot on O’Malley’s running tally.
Mirebs 2 biggest moments of his career.
1. I let him hold my jacket.
2. He gets a cut before he fights me— Sean O’Malley (@SugaSeanMMA) August 21, 2024
For much more on the upcoming UFC 306 card at The Sphere click here.