Sean O’Malley’s coach points to several factors that led to his title loss at UFC 306.
O’Malley (18-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) lost his bantamweight title to Merab Dvalishvili (19-4 MMA, 12-2 UFC) last September at Noche UFC, which took place at Sphere in Las Vegas. O’Malley revealed that he went into the fight with a torn labrum in his hip, which he underwent surgery for after the fight.
O’Malley will get an opportunity to avenge that loss when the pair run things back in the UFC 316 headliner June 7 at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. His head coach, Tim Welch, explained what he thinks went wrong in the first fight and how the Sphere production played a part.
“I rewatched the fight in slow-mo so many times,” Welch told ESPN. “There were tons and tons of shots that barely missed by inches that would have completely changed the fight, and I think a lot of it had to do with the Sphere and the lighting. And then not only the injury, I just feel like in our lives that was supposed to happen. It really, really caused us to truly level up as humans. And looking back, it was really good for us.”
Since their first fight, Dvalishvili went on to defend his title against formerly unbeaten Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311 this past January. Welch doesn’t see Dvalishvili straying away from his usual game plan.
“I’m expecting the same Merab: a guy who’s an expert at winning 25 minutes, getting into positions where he’s doing just enough damage to not get stood up and where it looks like he’s winning to the judges,” Welch said. “Pinning people on the fence, pinning people in half guard, pinning people on their guard.
“He’s just an expert at winning 25 minutes. I don’t think there’s been a fight that Sean has been so healthy after. Like after the fight, there wasn’t a bruise on his body. I think he had a little bruise on his leg, but he felt completely fine. So, he’s just an expert at making you tired and getting positions where he can just cook the clock.”
