A top 15 bantam weight believes that Sean O'Malley now has a better chance of beating the current champion on their way to their Rematch.
O'Malley has claimed that various factors had influenced his first fight with Merab Dvalishvili on UFC 306 last September.
While the Georgian looks to improve his performance in their first meeting, with Dvalishvili who is planning to hit more with O'Malley, there are some positives that can take 'Suga' from his last outing.
Many saw the fight as a relatively one -sided in favor of the challenger, but this was not reflected by all score cards or the way the game ended.
Dan Hardy recently emphasized the success that O'Malley had in the last moments on September 14, where Aiemann Zahabi shared a similar breakdown of the matchup.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Aiemann Zahabi says Sean O'Malley Merab Dvalishvili hurts in the body, can change everything in the rematch
In an exclusive interview with Bloody Elbow, Aiemann Zahabi broke the rematch between Sean O'Malley and Merab Dvalishvili.
The Canadian competition declared before his fight with Jose Aldo on UFC 315, which he won to earn the #11 ranking order on 135 pounds, that O'Malley has a better chance of winning in the Rematch.
Zahabi believes that the body shot that Dvalishvili hurts in the fifth and final lap, changes a lot of the story for UFC 316.
He said that this opens a lot of questions about what happens when 'Suga' can damage the champion earlier in fighting with a similar strike.
Dvalishvili has won his last 12 fights, but Zahabi thinks O'Malley may have discovered something that the former opponents of the Georgians could not benefit.
“In round five, when he figured him out on the body, Merab ran. He was injured, man. I think he is great, he is world champion for a reason, but if the team of Sean O'Malley can find a way to attack him earlier, weakens him to the body.
“You know, we have seen other champions losing losing by the body, being tired early. Perhaps he can't struggle as well as he is beaten. Maybe Sean has found something that we didn't know that we will not find out before. So if his team can build a game plan to hurt him on the body, there is no chance that is the first time.”
Aiemann Zahabi says Sean O'Malley feels like the A-side in UFC 316 Rematch
When he gave his reaction to this matchup that was booked, Aiemann Zahabi said the Sean O'Malley looks like the A-side on the way to UFC 316.
Some fans were surprised to see that this rematch was composed because 'Suga' did not fight since he lost the title on UFC 306.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
A combination of the success that O'Malley had in the fifth round and his injuries on their way to the fight gives the Rematch a number of interesting stories, but Zahabi could not overlook that Dvalishvili feels like the challenger again.
“I find it strange because it seems like Merab is the challenger, because Merab fights again after beating Sean and risked his title … If he had lost from Umar [Nurmagomedov]It would be strange that Sean gets a title fight, right? Wouldn't that be weird? So it's a bit for me, if someone looking at UFC, the UFC does what they want. They make it logical. “