- Robert Whittaker is impressed by how Sean O’Malley dominated Marlon Vera
- “The Reaper” thinks Merab Dvalisvili wouldn’t be able to match “Sugar”
Robert Whittaker was so blown away by Sean O’Malley’s performance at UFC 299 that he believes Merab Dvalishvili wouldn’t stand a chance against “Sugar.”
A lopsided rematch
Speaking on his MMArcade podcast, “The Reaper” raved about how good O’Malley was in his rematch with Marlon Vera. For Whittaker, “Sugar” is the complete package and he proved it by outclassing “Chito” in every category for 25 minutes.
“Mate, it was a landslide. Sean was phenomenal like, not only was he striking on point and I mentioned this in my predictions, that his spacing is so good and obviously he’s got long reach, he’s a tall guy for the division but I think his arms just lead that but his eyes, his instincts and his spacing just lead him to be able to strike and throw punches and fire off lefts and rights and be creative from the outside whenever he wants, wherever he wants and I will say on top of that, it looked like his speed was a notch higher,” Whittaker commented.
Sean is too much for Merab
O’Malley has got his sights set on a move up to the featherweight division to face Ilia Topuria. However, many believe that Dvalishvili should get his well-deserved title shot first.
According to Whittaker, O’Malley vs. Dvalishvili makes the most sense but style-wise, “Sugar” is too much for Dvalishvili.
“I think Merab and Sean are a bad matchup,” Whittaker assessed. “I think Sean’s spacing and just his creativity and not to mention Sean has the entire skill set, the entire arsenal if you think he’s not like going to be working straight line attacks like that lead knee he did against Vera… if you don’t think he’s going to be working things like that for Merab, [you’re] kidding yourself. Not to mention like Sean found the timing slot against Sterling, who is phenomenal… I think it’s going to be a hard fight.”
O’Malley’s decisive decision victory over Vera saw him successfully defending his bantamweight title for the first time. Some say it’s Dvalishvili and not “Chito” who is the worthiest title challenger in the division and “Sugar” should defend his title again against the No. 1 contender. However, it’s now up to the UFC brass to decide.
Watch Whittaker’s full podcast episode below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXkgj_E8T1I&t=48s
