UFC legend Demetrious Johnson provided insight into his recent training session with Sean O’Malley for UFC 316.
Sean O’Malley is out for revenge as he prepares to take on UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili in the UFC 316 main event this Saturday in Newark. Ahead of the rematch with Dvalishvili, O’Malley has made many sacrifices in his camp, and brought in several top names to prepare him to potentially reclaim the bantamweight throne.
But Dvalishvili poses an even bigger test for O’Malley this time around, after Dvalishvili turned away the previously unbeaten Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311. O’Malley underwent hip surgery immediately after his first fight with Dvalishvili at UFC 306, and this upcoming fight will mark his return after a nine-month hiatus.
O’Malley brought in two UFC legends to help him train for Dvalishvili’s puzzle at UFC 316. One of them walked away with a deep insight into O’Malley’s potential gameplan for the Dvalishvili rematch.
Demetrious Johnson encourages Sean O’Malley to emphasize one technique for UFC 316
Demetrious Johnson and Israel Adesanya trained with O’Malley during separate sessions in Arizona. Johnson, who retired from MMA last year, remains active in the gym despite his fighting career coming to a close.
As O’Malley and Johnson sparred during their training, one specific technique stood out the most to the former UFC flyweight champion.
During a recent episode of the MightyCast podcast, Johnson shared what O’Malley hurt him with in training that he could emphasize in his gameplan for UFC 316.
“I was with him and was like ‘You look strong, you look like you put on some muscle on, looks like you’ve been grappling this camp’,” Johnson said of O’Malley.
“We did 3 rounds, that f—– teep [kick] is dangerous. He hit me with it and I was ‘Oh, that’s your move right there’, that f—– teep. The same move that hurt Merab in the last fight. And I think looking at this fight with him versus Merab,” Johnson continued. “It’s going to come down to, can Sean break the machine? Or does the machine run over Sean? That’s where I think that fight is going to play out…
“When I felt his teep, that’s his ‘bread and butter’ to force me to come across the void and do something. If he’s going to come get me, he’ll teep me and force me to grapple him, or to stifle me.”
While O’Malley was dominated on the judges’ scorecards in his first fight with Dvalishvili, he put his rival in deep trouble in the closing minutes with a nasty kick to the body. But Dvalishvili was able to survive O’Malley’s late barrage and coast to a unanimous decision win.
O’Malley has incorporated a grappling-heavy approach into his camp for UFC 316, which he plans to utilize in his rematch with Dvalishvili. But don’t be surprised if kicks are a major focal point of an O’Malley upset.
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Sean O’Malley used Conor McGregor as inspiration for UFC 316 rematch
Ahead of UFC 316, O’Malley drew inspiration from Conor McGregor‘s infamous rematch with Nate Diaz at UFC 202. After O’Malley was seen studying McGregor fight footage, McGregor took to social media to praise the former UFC titleholder.
O’Malley and McGregor have had an up-and-down relationship during their careers. The two got into a social media spat which ramped up into a full-on fight challenge which never came to fruition.
But the two UFC stars have since squashed their past beef. McGregor could potentially return to the Octagon later this year after a four-year absence from fighting.