Former bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley has issued a caution to reigning titleholder Merab Dvalishvili ahead of UFC 323, set for December 6 at the T‑Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. With Dvalishvili preparing for his fourth title defense against Petr Yan, O’Malley believes the champion’s growing confidence in striking could become a liability. “He’s way more confident in his hands, and his hands have improved a lot,” O’Malley said on his YouTube channel. Over time, however, “The Machine” has demonstrated improved striking skills, recently rocking Cory Sandhagen en route to a unanimous decision at UFC 320. “Petr supposedly hurt his hand or had a really bad injury on his hand going into that first fight,” O’Malley explained.