- Ben Askren is not in favor of Sean O’Malley’s decision to rematch Merab Dvalishvili
- “Funky” suggested that “Suga” should’ve gone for other bantamweight contenders first
Ben Askren believes Sean O’Malley has made a big mistake trying in running it back with Merab Dvalishvili and should have rather faced non-champion fighters instead.
It’s a huge gamble for Sean
Sharing his thoughts on O’Malley’s situation on Daniel Cormier’s YouTube channel, “Funky” pointed out that “Suga” gambled his future when he opted to rematch Dvalishvili. Askren noted that O’Malley is risking everything right now as he might struggled to regain relevance if he loses to the champion once again.
“Honestly, for Sean, you know, if you look at his skill set and who he is, I kind of think this is a bad move.” Askren shared. “If he gets beat up by Merab again, then he loses his whole bunch of attraction because it’s like, ‘Well, you already lost to the champ twice.’ So, until the champ goes away, they’re not going to give you a third shot against him. He could have fought some maybe lower ranked guys… Against guys that can’t take him down, he kind of looks like a real freakin’ superstar. He’s really exciting. A really diverse striking attack. He could have looked really good, build the fight back up into something bigger, but now I feel like everyone is feeling like, ‘Hey, we just saw this. It wasn’t competitive. Why do we need to see this again?'”
Sean should’ve worked on his wrestling some more
Askren also thinks O’Malley should have maximize his time to work on his wrestling before taking on a high-level wrestler like Dvalishvili again. At this point, “Funky” believes that “Suga” might have to rely more on his striking.
“I wish Sean would have taken more time and improved wrestling but he’s still does… He has dynamic striking. He has knockout capabilities. Now, Merab has been relatively unstoppable, looking in his last handful of fights,” Askren later added.
O’Malley will make the most of the second chance given to him when he steps inside the Octagon against Dvalishvili once again at UFC 316 on June 7th. As it stands, “Suga” will try to reclaim his title after losing to “The Machine” at UFC 306 via unanimous decision.
Watch Askren’s full video below:
