Sean O’Malley brings in UFC GOAT to prepare for Merab Dvalishvili

Sean O'Malley trains with Demetrious Johnson ahead of UFC 316 rematch with Merab Dvalishvili

Grappling Reels shared an Instagram story on May 21 showing O'Malley training with former UFC flyweight and former ONE FC bantamweight champion Demetrious Johnson.

'Mighty Mouse' built a career by being one of the pound-for-pound greatest fighters of all time, and makes the top-three of many fans' GOAT lists. He could strike well enough, but his grappling and submission game made him a force in the UFC Octagon.

O'Malley is no slouch in the grappling department either, having submitted Combat Wrestling champion Takanori Gomi in a contest in 2019. Since then, he's shown exemplary grappling skills, primarily in his fight with Petr Yan.

Whether it can be argued that O'Malley deserved the title fight or not, he's certainly bringing in the right talent to prepare. By not taking a fight to warm up for a rematch, O'Malley is risking locking himself out of the title picture by suffering back-to-back losses against the champ.

O'Malley and Dvalishvili are just one title fight on the 12-fight UFC 316 card (subject to change):

• (c) Merab Dvalishvili vs. Sean O'Malley; bantam title
• (c) Julianna Pena vs. Kayla Harrison; bantam title
• Kelvin Gastelum vs. Joe Pyfer; middle
• Vicente Luque vs. Kevin Holland; welter
• Mario Bautista vs. (debut) Patchy Mix; bantam
• Bruno Silva vs. Joshua Van; fly
• Ariane Lipski da Silva vs. Cong Wang; fly
• Serghei Spivac vs. Waldo Cortes-Acosta; heavy
• (debut) Joo Sang Yoo vs. Jeka Saragih; feather
• Khaos Williams vs. Uros Medic; welter
• Azamat Murzakanov vs. Brendson Ribeiro; light heavy
• Quillian Salkilld vs. Yanal Ashmouz; light