Sean O’Malley ‘100 percent’ targeting Merab Dvalishvili’s cut

Sean O’Malley will look to reopen Merab Dvalishvili’s gash at UFC 306.

Dvalishvili (17-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC) suffered a cut on the left side of his face  near his eye less than a month before his title fight vs. bantamweight champion O’Malley (17-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC), which headlines the promotion’s second annual Noche UFC card Sept. 14 at Sphere in Las Vegas.

Dvalishvili had the laceration stitched up, and even removed the stitches himself which boggled UFC CEO Dana White’s mind. O’Malley now might have an easy target which he fully intends on exploiting.

“I am 100 percent going to open up that cut, whether it’s healed or not,” O’Malley told veteran combat sports reporter Kevin Iole. “I don’t know how much it can heal. I’ve never really had any bad cuts so I’m not sure really – but I’m going to be (targeting it).

“That’s the left side of his face and this right hand doesn’t miss. I’ll probably accidentally hit his nose before I hit that cut, that nose just kind of takes up like 85 percent of his face. So, I’m going to try and get around his nose and get to that cut.”

White called Dvalishvili “next-level stupid” for posting about his cut on social media – and O’Malley agrees.

“Dana referring to him as one of the stupidest people or beyond stupid, whatever he said was pretty accurate,” O’Malley continued. “I mean the dude’s just not that smart of a guy.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 306.