Merab Dvalishvili has taken the bantamweight reins and run with them since claiming the UFC title against Sean O'Malley this past September, with plenty of banter being volleyed between the two camps.
Now Dvalishvili and O'Malley are set to run things back at UFC 316 on June 7 in Newark, New Jersey — and the rivals have been surprisingly cordial in recent encounters despite their fiery history.
"He's funny, he's cute, and he's good fighter too," Dvalishvili said Tuesday on Uncrowned's "The Ariel Helwani Show." "I have only have positive feelings [about O'Malley], other than he was talking stupid about my friend Aljamain Sterling.