This is a “Championship” section where our authors will be on opposite sides of the barricades.
On the evening of September 15, the big UFC 306 tournament or UFC Night will take place. The main event of the evening will be a bantamweight title fight between defending champion Sean O’Malley and Merab Dvalishvili. The fight should adorn a grandiose show in the “Sphere”, which has already been repeatedly announced by Dana White.
It is not surprising that the historic mission fell to O’Malley, who is actively becoming a big superstar to replace Conor McGregor. As for his opponent, Dvalishvili has long been in the status of a deserved contender. The Georgian fighter has amassed a 10-fight winning streak and received a well-deserved reward in the form of a title opportunity.
In fact, the meeting between O’Malley and Dvalishvili is a classic confrontation between a fighter and a striker. And usually in such cases the advantage goes to the one who fights, but not in this case. Of course, Merab is a powerful pacemaker who will fly into the fight for all 25 minutes if the fight lasts that long and will break all records for takedowns. For example, in a fight with Petr Yan (also primarily a striker, like O’Malley), Dvalishvili made 49 (!) takedown attempts, of which only 11 were successful. However, even in unsuccessful attempts, Merab secured his opponent and controlled him at the net and scored points. In addition, the Georgian has enough cardio to work uninterruptedly in such an energy-consuming style – here he fully justifies the nickname “The Machine”.
Main events of the upcoming tournament:
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However, Dvalishvili has not met such drummers as O’Malley. Sean is very tall for his weight class; he and Merab have a very noticeable difference in size and arm span. And not long ago we saw that catching Sugar in the net and trying to drag him into the fight is not an easy task. Aljamain Sterling, Merab’s friend and former UFC champion, was a fearsome favorite ahead of the fight with O’Malley. As a result, Aljo, who was already in the cage, fully felt what Sean’s footwork was. Thanks to the cool move, Sugar will be able to avoid Merab’s attempts to fight back. Not all of them, but most of them.
Another weakness of Dvalishvili lies, interestingly, in his strength: wrestling. A large number of takedown attempts suggests that Merab has control problems. He controls his opponents very well at the net, but on the ground he struggles. And O’Malley, with his influence, should definitely find ways to recover. And if the fight takes place on the feet, Sean’s chances increase exponentially.
Sean O’Malley
Photo: Fake Images
Merab does not have a cast-iron “stand”, as we have seen more than once. Marlon Moraes knocked down Dvalishvili, and in that fight the Georgian fighter was very lucky that the referee did not stop the beating. In the last fight, Cejudo Merab’s left hook also hurt him badly. He is vulnerable to punches from the left. Can top-level striker O’Malley, who excels in both stances, take advantage of this? The question is rhetorical.
What’s more, neither Moraes nor Cejudo have the power that Sean has. For a second, Sugar has five career knockouts with punches (and can knock you out with a kick), just one less than Francis Ngannou. Sean believes his strength comes from nature and sports: “I started kickboxing at 16 and almost immediately started knocking everyone out. From that moment on I started to develop enormous self-confidence. I think that, in general, this strength comes from genes: I am naturally athletic, I am explosive, I went through football, soccer, baseball, basketball and all these sports complemented my athletic ability and turned me into a beast.”
How are the fighters’ ambitions going at UFC 306?
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In fact, timing decides here too – O’Malley is great at seeing holes in his opponents’ defence and punishing them for mistakes. You can rewatch his win over Sterling – it’s a perfect example of good timing and Aljo’s instant revenge for the failure. Even Dvalishvili’s team understands that Sean will definitely get it right: “To win, Merab will have to take several punches. O’Malley is a sniper. It’s stupid to go into the cage and think Sean won’t get you. But I don’t think O’Malley has ever faced anyone who could pressure the way Merab does.”
O’Malley’s timing and arsenal of shots should never be underestimated. Sugar can deal takedowns not only with straight lines with hooks, but also with hooks with knees. That’s why, for example, Robert Whittaker is worried about Dvalishvili: “The fight between Merab and Sean is not the best idea. Sean has a sense of distance and creativity, not to mention that he has a rich set of skills and a great arsenal. Remember how he threw a knee in the fight with Vera when he lowered his head. If you think he won’t practice such strikes on Merab, you are wrong. Besides, Sean has already shown his opportunity in the fight with Aljamain Sterling, who performed phenomenally in the bantamweight division.”
Another key to victory is body shots, which O’Malley actively used in his fight with Marlon Vera. This will help slow down Dvalishvili. Again, no one has yet been able to check whether Merab will be as active if he starts “eating” body shots?
All this will be enough for O’Malley to score a brilliant and confident victory over Dvalishvili. Of course, Merab has chances, but the champion definitely has something to cover his opponent’s strengths.
