Some had questioned the wisdom of placing former champion Sean O’Malley into a bantamweight title rematch with Merab Dvalishvili later this year — but Aljamain Sterling isn’t among them.
It was confirmed this week O’Malley and Dvalishvili will once again lock horns in the upcoming UFC 316 main event scheduled for the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on June 7 in what will be a sequel to their first fight last September which was won by the Georgian in a relatively clear-cut five-round decision.
Dvalishvili has since successfully defended his crown against Umar Nurmagomedov this past January and Sterling, a longtime training partner of the current champion, says that he holds no ill will towards O’Malley — whom he lost the 135-pound title to in August 2023 — at being handed a rematch after he himself was overlooked for the same after he lost the belt.
“The UFC’s gonna do what’s best for the business and the brand,” Sterling wrote on social media in response to a question from a fan. “Would I have liked an immediate rematch due to the circumstances going into the first fight? Absolutely.
“But I understand the business model better than most, and O’Malley is a really exciting guy that has beaten many top five contenders. So I think he rightfully deserves it after all the ranked names he has beaten.”
Sterling, meanwhile, is 1-1 at featherweight since moving up a division in the wake of Dvalishvili’s title win having defeated Calvin Kattar but losing a tight battle against Mosvar Evloev.
