Merab Dvalishvili has called out Marc Goddard after the stoppage of Sean O’Malley Vs Aljamain Sterling. Dvalishvili had to witness his friend and teammate Aljamain Sterling lose by TKO after a perfect punch by Sean O’Malley at UFC 292.
Merab Dvalishvili’s argument against Marc Goddard is based on Aljamain not being knocked out cold and was still capable of defending himself, or at least at the point of the stoppage. The argument against Merab is that O’Malley had no trouble landing devastating blow after devastating blow. Marc Goddard saw that this wasn’t going to stop and decided enough was enough.
Merab Dvalishvili took to Twitter to express his distaste for the stoppage:
Merab Dvalishvili Takes to Twitter
“Another f**king early stoppage! I pray that me or my teammates don’t have Mark Goddard in the cage again. We are FIGHTERS… let us fight til the end!”
The fight clearly left poor taste in Merab Dvalishvili’s mouth. It isn’t a surprise, as he did just see his friend and teammate get knocked out. However, the stoppage was not as bad as Merab is describing. Aljamain Sterling wasn’t in a position to survive for much longer. The referee’s job is to call the end of the fight before things get ugly. They have to stop the fight before a fighter’s life is put in danger. O’Malley had Sterling rocked, and O’Malley was relentlessly punching Aljamain Sterling in the head. It made sense why Marc Goddard stopped the fight.
The Future Of The Bantamweight Division
The only thing that was stopping Merab Dvalishvili from fighting for the title was Aljamain Sterling being the champion, as he has stated many times that he would never fight Aljamain. But now, there is a new champ in town. Merab is also coming off an incredible win over Petr Yan, and with the story already set to avenge his close friend, the fight between them is everything but confirmed.
However, this may not be the case. After his win, Sean O’Malley called out the only man to defeat him, Marlon Vera. Vera is also coming off a dominant decision win against Pedro Munhoz at UFC 292. With the hatred between the two, Dana White may look to have the ‘Suga’ show fight Vera before Dvalishvili. Above all of that, there is still the returning Henry Cejudo in the conversation. There is also the chance that Aljamain could get an immediate rematch against Sean O’Malley. Merab Dvalishvili certainly agrees with the rematch, as he has also tweeted, “If Sean O’Malley ducks Aljo for a rematch, then I want to beat his skinny ass for the belt.”
So where from here? O’Malley definitely isn’t short of options, but Merab Dvalishvili is definitely the most deserving of the fight, as he was actually the number-one contender before UFC 292. Sadly though, O’Malley is now an absolute superstar for the UFC and can bring massive amounts of money to the UFC. If O’Malley calls for a fight that he can generate interest from the fans, Dana White will see the potential of a massive payday. And sadly, for Merab Dvalishvili, the fight between Sean O’Malley Vs Marlon Vera is a massive chance for a UFC payday.
Will Merab Dvalishvili be the next opponent for Sean O’Malley? Let us know in the comments below!
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
