Former bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley has said he’ll be rooting for current titleholder Merab Dvalishvili to beat Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311 in order to set up a rematch between them later in the year.

Dvalishvili outwrestled O’Malley to win by unanimous decision and claim the title at UFC 306 in September, but it seems that ‘Suga’ Sean is now eager to avenge that defeat and win back the belt.

“Ideally, Merab beats Umar and I get the rematch,” O’Malley said in a recent interview. “But if Umar wins, it’ll be Umar. That’s what I want next is a title fight.

“Hopefully mid-next year. So the winner of that one. That fight’s coming up very, very soon.”

It’s not clear yet whether that would line up with the UFC’s thinking on the matter, but O’Malley is still the No.1 contender in the division and is undoubtedly still the fighter with the most star power in the division.

Dvalishvili’s wrestling advantage always looked like being a major issue for O’Malley leading into their first fight though, and that did prove to be the case on the night, although two judges did score the fight 48-47, so it wasn’t one-way traffic.

Meanwhile, the very well-rounded Nurmagomedov would also present a challenging stylistic match-up for O’Malley if he emerges victorious at UFC 311, as he also has a good wrestling game if he chose to use it, but is also a talented striker too.