Sean O'Malley after UFC 320: 'I'm the only one who can beat' Merab Dvalishvili

Sean O'Malley believes UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili needs to get caught in order to lose.

Dvalishvili (21-4 MMA, 14-2 UFC) notched his third title defense of the year when he overwhelmed Cory Sandhagen in Saturday's UFC 320 co-main event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Not only was Dvalishvili able to take Sandhagen (18-6 MMA, 11-5 UFC) down 20 times, he hurt him badly in Round 2 on the feet. O'Malley (18-3 MMA, 10-3 UFC) lost to Dvalishvili twice in title fights – by unanimous decision at UFC 306 then by submission at UFC 316.

"He's very, very confident right now in his standup, and he can be because either his opponent is going to back up and nothing really happens, or they're going to stand and try to trade, and he's going to crack them, fall into a single leg, fall into a double leg, or they're going to get cracked with a right hand," O'Malley said of Dvalishvili on his YouTube channel.

"To beat Merab, you just have to land that shot. You have to be able to f*cking snipe him, and he was getting a little more reckless. The more confident he gets in his striking, the more gaps it leaves open to be caught."

So who can beat Dvalishvili?

"I don't see anyone else being able to beat him," O'Malley said. "I do think I'm the only – I hate to say it, I hate to f*cking say it: I'm the only one who can beat him. Give me that shot at the White House, but I've got to go out there and get some wins. But I don't really see anyone beating Merab anytime soon. He needs to be clipped. He needs to be knocked out and put to sleep to beat him, and I just don't really see anyone other than myself being able to do it."

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Why Sean O'Malley thinks only he can beat UFC champ Merab Dvalishvili