Former UFC bantamweight champion Sean O'Malley and his longtime coach gave their initial thoughts on Merab Dvalishvili's performance at UFC 311.
Sean O'Malley and his coach Tim Welch sat sideline at the Intuit Dome as Merab Dvalishvili defeated Umar Nurmagomedov en route to a unanimous decision. After a slow start, Dvalishvili set a ferocious pace on Nurmagomedov in the later rounds and retained the title in an instant classic at UFC 311.
O'Malley, who lost the bantamweight title to Dvalishvili at UFC 306 in September, is planning a possible rematch against Dvalishvili for his next fight. He believes he was robbed on the judges' scorecards in their first match, despite the vast majority of fans and pundits believing Dvalishvili deserved the nod.
As O'Malley moves closer to booking his UFC comeback, possibly against Dvalishvili, he kept a close eye on the UFC 311 co-main event. Despite Dvalishvili's stunning performances, especially in the championship rounds, O'Malley and Welch remain unfazed by the bantamweight champion's skills.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Sean O'Malley's coach opens Merab Dvalishvili's rematch after UFC 311
In a recent upload to his YouTube channel, coach Tim Welch gave his first reaction to Dvalishvili's victory ahead of a potential rematch with O'Malley.
“[Merab] is on a streak, I'll tell you what,” Welch said. “You could see after that fourth round that Umar was seriously gassed, he was really tired. He did a good job wrestling, Merab shot a ton and Umar did a great job filling all his shots. When he hit his butt, he would just hit his butt for a second and jump right up, but Merab just kept that pace and cardio on him. He's got some cardio, I'll tell you.
“I think those last 30 seconds of the fight really let Merab win the fight. He's a problem, he's a big problem. But I do believe we can be the kryptonite for Merab with the right game plan and a good fight camp. Now that 'Suge' is healthy, I think we'll get him out. And we'll find out, won't we?”
At the time of writing, the timeline of O'Malley's return is uncertain as he recovers from hip surgery he underwent shortly after UFC 306. He went into UFC 306 with a torn labrum that he partially blamed for his flat performance against Dvalishvili.
Sean O'Malley and Petr Yan are both calling for Merab Dvalishvili rematches
UFC CEO Dana White was noncommittal about Dvalishvili vs. O'Malley 2 after UFC 311. Former UFC titleholder Petr Yan, who defeated Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC Macau last year, is also in the mix for a potential title shot.
If Dvalishvili isn't ready to return within O'Malley's comeback timeline, O'Malley could potentially face Yan in a No. 1 fight. They fought earlier in their careers at UFC 280, with O'Malley earning a split-decision victory before defeating Aljamain Sterling for the title at UFC 292.
After winning the title at UFC 306, Dvalishvili appeared open to an immediate rematch against O'Malley. Time will tell if the top two bantamweights will do it again in 2025.
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