Dominick Cruz thinks Sean O’Malley has what it takes to regain the bantamweight title from Sean O’Malley at UFC 316, but it’s going to be an uphill climb.
Much has been made of the radical life changes O’Malley has endured going into Saturday’s rematch against Dvalishvili at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+). Additionally, “Suga” was injured for the first meeting this past September, in which he dropped a unanimous decision, and afterward underwent surgery for a torn labrum.
O’Malley (18-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) has painted the picture that he wasn’t in top form for the initial bout with Dvalishvili (19-4 MMA, 12-2 UFC) but things are significantly better for him entering this contest. For Cruz, who is a former two-time UFC champion at 135 pounds and now an analyst and commentator for the company, that makes things very captivating.
“The fights transform you alone, much less life outside of the fight world that’s also transforming you at the same things,” Cruz told MMA Junkie. “I’m glad to hear that for O’Malley, because from my experience that is a more sustainable lifestyle for a long period of time to stay in the top five and the top 10 than the latter – not to say it can’t be done. There’s no right way to do this, either. That’s what’s beautiful about this sport. People do it all the ways. There’s no right or wrong way and you can keep winning, and as long as you’re winning, people love you.”
If O’Malley can come out at UFC 316 as the sharpshooting knockout artists that elevated him to become champion, then Cruz thinks there will be opportunities for him to finish the fight.
“Let’s say he’s healthy in this fight: He’s going to have a completely different camp and a completely different camp shows a completely different wrinkle of him, and that’s interesting to me,” Cruz said. “He always has the power and the style to knock out Merab, and Merab knows that. He knows he can get knocked out by O’Malley, and we’ve seen him do it to Aljamain Sterling. And if Merab gets caught reaching at all over that lead leg, that’s where O’Malley is really going to make him pay. There’s a lot of fundamental challenges for Merab with the short stance and all that, and O’Malley has really good footwork. He’s really rangy. He’s really good at pulling you side-to-side into power shots. This is a fun fight. I like it and don’t see anything wrong with it. It keeps the story going for Merab.”
Ultimately, with Dvalishvili on a 12-fight winning streak and already getting the better of O’Malley inside the octagon, it’s difficult for Cruz to go against the reigning champion because of his ability to keep the challenger guessing.
“I do believe that Merab should be the favorite and I do believe he is the true champion and will probably (win),” Cruz said. “If I look at the last fight, it wasn’t close to me. We’re assuming that because he was hurt, that’s why. I’m going to say it’s because Merab was nasty. He mixes up his striking and his wrestling very similar to the way I used my style, he uses a similar tactics with the high and low, with the shooting at the times he shoots and time he strikes.”
To hear Cruz’s full breakdown of the UFC 316 main event, check out his complete appearance on “The Bohnfire” podcast with MMA Junkie senior reporter Mike Bohn above.
