Sean O’Malley reacts to Merab Dvalishvili’s recent callout of Petr Yan: “Merab is absolutely s***ing himself terrified of Umar”

Sean O’Malley doesn’t believe that Merab Dvalishvili is overly interested in the idea of fighting Umar Nurmagomedov.

As we know, Merab Dvalishvili is the rightful UFC bantamweight champion. He defeated Sean O’Malley to claim the belt for the first time and ever since then, fans have been wondering who he’ll defend against first. Some have suggested an O’Malley rematch, whereas others believe Umar Nurmagomedov and Petr Yan are the top two contenders – especially after the latter’s win over Deiveson Figueiredo last weekend.

RELATED: Merab Dvalishvili challenges Petr Yan to rematch at March’s UFC 313 event in Las Vegas: “LFG!”

Either way, Dvalishvili has his hands full at 135 pounds. After Yan’s aforementioned triumph, though, the Georgian star did issue a challenge to Yan for a future rematch.

In the eyes of Sean O’Malley, he’s doing this because Merab isn’t at all interested in squaring off against the in-form Umar Nurmagomedov.

O’Malley questions Dvalishvili

“Umar wants to fight Merab in January…Merab is absolutely s***ing himself terrified of Umar, he doesn’t want to fight Umar,” O’Malley said. “Now he wants to fight Petr, he wants to fight me… Petr got 50-45’d to Merab!”

O’Malley’s coach Tim Welch then decided to weigh in.

“Think of how exciting and lit the division would be, if Merab wasn’t a part of it?” Welch said. “That’s no disrespect, the guy is really good at getting in those positions and getting through the fight. But man, it would be lit.”

Quotes via Bloody Elbow

Hopefully, we get some kind of fight announcement sooner rather than later.

Do you believe that Merab Dvalishvili is choosing to avoid a title showdown with Umar Nurmagomedov? If that fight ever does happen, who are you backing to pick up the win and why? Let us know your thoughts on this one, BJPENN Nation!