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Daniel Cormier recently gave his take on Sean O'Malley's strong prediction for his upcoming fight against Merab Dvalishvili. Cormier believes this is part of O'Malley's strategy to get inside Dvalishvili's head and force him to make mistakes during their fight.
O'Malley will defend his bantamweight title against Dvalishvili in the main event of UFC 306, dubbed Riyadh Season Noche UFC, which will take place on Sept. 14 at the Las Vegas Sphere. Due to their recent social media jabs at one another, the two bantamweights have animosity heading into their title contest next month.
During a recent episode of the TimboSugarShow podcast, O'Malley made a violent prediction for his fight against Dvalishvili. 'Suga' claimed that he would ''hurt'' the Georgian fighter, saying:
"I know I'm going to hurt him eventually. At one point, I'm going to hurt him, but then it could turn into a brutal just KO."
Check out Sean O'Malley's comments below (via Home of Fight on X):
In a recent video uploaded on his YouTube channel, Cormier shared his opinion on O'Malley's knockout prediction. The UFC Hall of Famer speculated that the reigning champion is playing mental games with Dvalishvili, citing the example of Conor McGregor, who did the same with his opponents.
''This young man has managed to not only become a champion but to become a star... So when O’Malley says things like that, I’m pretty sure he’s stewing. But [Dvalishvili] also has to recognize that these are the games that guys that understand fighting, that want to play the mind game with you, that really are like Sean O’Malley or Conor McGregor. Them being able to frustrate you is a win for them. Because if you get frustrated, and you start to make a mistake.''
Check out Daniel Cormier's comments below (1:57):
Sean O'Malley wants to face winner of Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway
Sean O'Malley has previously expressed his desire to take on UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria, who is set to face Max Holloway at UFC 308.
In a recent interview with Michael Bisping, O'Malley hinted at potentially facing the winner of the Topuria vs. Holloway fight if he defeats Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306, saying:
"You can't tell me that Max Holloway versus the Sugar Show at 145 [pounds], if Max goes out there and beats Ilia, isn't a massive fight. Me versus Ilia, if he goes out there and beats Max, that's a massive fight. I never want to have one option... I do like having options, I do like keeping it interesting."
Check out Sean O'Malley's comments below (8:51):
