Things almost got ugly following the UFC 288 main event between Aljamain Sterling and Henry Cejudo when Sean O’Malley was invited into the cage to face off with Sterling.
Sterling had just beaten Cejudo via split decision, setting up a fight with O’Malley, who has been promised the next title shot. The two got into a heated verbal spat, yelling over each other into the mic.
O’Malley entered the cage with a Michael Jackson ‘Thriller’ style red leather jacket, and he quickly shed it for the impromptu faceoff. Funny enough he accidentally handed it off to Sterling’s good friend and training partner Merab Dvalishvili, who decided to put it on and parade around the octagon.
A lot of yelling and shoving ensued before Merab handed the clothing back to security.
“Merab, he took the jacket, he’s doing little Russian things that they do,” O’Malley said on the ESPN+ post show for UFC 288 (Dvalishvili is from Georgia, a former Soviet republic that is not a part of Russia). “Merab’s just a little goofball. I don’t take that dude too serious.”
“Suga” had a sense of humor about the moment after the event, tweeting “I gave my jacket to that guy, I thought It was my coat boy.”
“First… you gave me your jacket and I thank you for the gift,” Merab responded. “But then you cried for me to give it back and called me coat boy .. well if I am the coat boy … WHERE’S MY TIP??”
@SugaSeanMMA First… you gave me your jacket and I thank you for the gift. But then you cried for me to give it back and called me coat boy .. well if I am the coat boy … WHERE’S MY TIP ?? @ufc
— Merab “The Machine” Dvalishvili (@MerabDvalishvil) May 7, 2023
“What’s your Venmo I’ll send you 20,” O’Malley replied before adding “Actually 15 it smelt weird as f— after I got it back.”
Dvalishvili is the No. 1 ranked bantamweight after champion Aljamain Sterling, but their close friendship has him sitting outside the title picture until Sterling makes a move up to featherweight. That may not be too long, as Aljo has shared plans to jump up a division after taking out Sean O’Malley in his next defense.
As for when this title defense could go down, we’ll have to wait and see. UFC president Dana White has said he’d like to get Sterling vs. O’Malley on an upcoming August pay-per-view in Boston. “Funkmaster” has said he prefers the idea of September in Las Vegas.