UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili will run it back with Sean O’Malley in the main event of UFC 316
MMA’s leading promotion is returning to Newark for their latest pay-per-view, as Dvalishvili prepares to fight O’Malley for the second time in nine months.
The pair first collided inside the unique surroundings of the Sphere in September 2024, headlining the second Noche UFC event in Las Vegas.
Dvalishvili dominated O’Malley to claim the bantamweight crown after five rounds. And after defending it against Umar Nurmagomedov, ‘The Machine’ will renew hostilities with ‘Sugar’.
When the cage door closes behind them, be it across 25 minutes or through a finish, Dvalishvili’s coach is expecting a rough night for O’Malley one way or the other.
Coach John Wood warns Sean O’Malley of lasting damage from Merab Dvalishvili fight
During a recent interview with MMA Fighting, coach John Wood looked ahead to Dvalishvili’s upcoming third defense of the bantamweight title and second clash with O’Malley.
Having earned decisions in his title win and first defense, the Georgian champion is shooting for an emphatic stoppage to put a further stamp on his reign.
But should that not arrive come fight night at UFC 316, Wood has promised O’Malley that he’ll still emerge forever “changed” from another five rounds in the cage with ‘The Machine’.
“What he [Dvalishvili] brings to the table is just different. People do not understand it. This fight is kind of intriguing because Sean kind of knows that now, Tim [Welch] knows that.
“But what’s going to happen is they’re going to have a good round, maybe a round or two, but once things start to turn the same way they did before, it’s going to be even more defeating and deflating than it was the first time.
“Sean’s a great fighter…but there are better people,” Wood continued. “The motivation is to go out there and finish Sean. If that doesn’t happen, it’s not for lack of trying, it’s not for lack of — Sean should be a changed man after this fight if he goes five rounds.”
Sean O’Malley’s coach used the Sphere in latest excuse for Merab Dvalishvili loss
In the aftermath of the Noche UFC main event in 2024, it was revealed that O’Malley was headed for the operating table after fighting through a torn labrum.
The former champ was quickly accused of making excuses for the result, and that sentiment reared its head again recently in response to some remarks out of O’Malley’s coach.
“I rewatched the fight in slow-mo so many times. There were tons and tons of shots that barely missed by inches that would’ve completely changed the fight, and I think a lot of it had to do with the Sphere and the lighting,” Welch told ESPN MMA.
Welch also reiterated his belief that O’Malley’s health issue played a role.
“And then not only the injury, I just feel like in our lives that was supposed to happen. It really caused us to truly level up as humans, and looking back, it was really good for us.”
Welch will hope that a return to the more conventional surroundings of Newark’s Prudential Center will boost his fighter’s chances of exacting revenge on Dvalishvili.