Sean O’Malley shouldn’t be rematching Merab Dvalishvili straight away, says Ben Askren

Sean O’Malley shouldn’t have opted to rematch Merab Dvalishvili straight away, says former UFC star Ben Askren.

As we now know, Sean O’Malley will challenge Merab Dvalishvili for the UFC bantamweight championship at UFC 316. While Dvalishvili has already defended his belt against Umar Nurmagomedov, Sean hasn’t fought since he lost the strap to Merab at UFC 306. Some expected him to take on a fellow contender in his next outing, but that isn’t the direction he’s gone in.

RELATED: Sean O’Malley explains his excitement for Michael Chandler vs Paddy Pimblett

Instead, O’Malley wants to dive right back into the chaos. He wants to challenge himself and prove that he’s capable of becoming champion again, against one of the most well-rounded and accomplished bantamweights to ever compete in the UFC.

In the eyes of Ben Askren, though, ‘Suga’ has made a mistake by immediately opting for his rematch.

Askren’s view on O’Malley/Dvalishvili 2

“I kind of think this is a bad move,” Askren said on his “Funky and the Champ” show with Daniel Cormier. “If he gets beat up by Merab again, then he loses a whole bunch of attraction because it’s like, well, you already lost to the champ twice, so until the champ goes away, they’re not going to give you a third shot against him. He could have fought some, maybe, lower-ranked guys.

“Against guys who can’t take him down, he kind of looks like a real freaking superstar, right? He’s really exciting, very diverse striking attack, so he could have looked really good, built the fight back up into something bigger. But now, I feel like everyone is feeling, ‘Hey, we just saw this, it wasn’t competitive. Why do we need to see this again?’”

“I wish Sean would have taken some more time to improve his wrestling, but he still has dynamic striking, he has knockout capabilities,” Askren said. “Merab has been relatively unstoppable looking in his last handful of fights.”

Quotes via MMA Junkie

What should be next for Sean O’Malley? Do you back him to regain his championship in the rematch? Let us know your thoughts on this, BJPENN Nation!