Alexa Grasso’s facial expression says it all.
In a new video posted to the UFC’s social media on Tuesday, bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley and top-ranked contender Merab Dvalishvili got into a heated war of words as the fighters gathered together to begin promoting the upcoming UFC 306 card on Sept. 14 at Sphere in Las Vegas.
From the look of things, O’Malley and Dvalishvili were part of a promotional shoot for the upcoming fight, which is part of a celebration for Mexican Independence Day.
The video shows Dvalishvili approaching O’Malley and expressing that he was “so pissed” after he got into it with his upcoming opponent’s head coach Tim Welch. The exchange took place back in May, which also involved former champion and Dvalishvili’s close friend Aljamain Sterling, after Sterling accused Welch of talking trash to him from the corner when he fought O’Malley in August 2023.
Dvalishvili eventually injected himself into the conversation saying “I will smash O’Malley inside the cage and then smash his coach outside of the cage.” Seeing O’Malley during the photoshoot must have reminded Dvalishvili of that interaction, because he approached the UFC champion with security keeping a close eye on things.
Dvalishvili can be heard saying he wanted to “smack his face,” which earned a fiery retort from O’Malley.
“If you have a problem with him, you can take it up with him,” O’Malley said. “He’ll fight you. If that’s what you want. After the fight you should definitely try to smack his face. You should definitely try that. That would be funny. You should try that.”
Dvalishvili then stated that he wasn’t trying to compete against Welch in the UFC but rather “I’m talking about a street fight.”
O’Malley quickly fired back and invited him to try.
“You could street fight him. I’d love to see that,” O’Malley said. “You want to die? Is that what you’re saying? He’ll kill you.”
As the future opponents continued arguing, Grasso — who fights Valentina Shevchenko on the same card — could only offer a wide-eyed reaction as she watched O’Malley and Dvalishvili continue to argue.
Judging by this interaction, O’Malley and Dvalishvili should have some interesting times ahead, especially during fight week with press conferences and weigh-ins bringing them face to face again.
