Sean O’Malley‘s looking to draw first blood against Merab Dvalishvili by any means necessary.
Ahead of Noche UFC on Sep. 14, the UFC Bantamweight Champion has several obvious keys to victory such as maintaining his distance from the wrestle-heavy Dvalishvili, countering “The Machine” on his way in for takedowns and mixing up his strikes on the feet, where O’Malley has shown to be the best at.
Dvalishvili may be on a 10-fight win streak but the Georgian has shown chinks in his armor, nearly getting knocked out in fights against former world champs Marlon Moraes (WSOF) and Henry Cejudo. Though, Dvalishvili’s high-paced style has held up against the best the division has had to offer, decisioning the likes of seasoned strikers Jose Aldo and Petr Yan a couple of fights ago.
O’Malley: “I’m Going To Find His Chin 100%”
We’ll see how Dvalishvili handles the KO threat of the long and lanky O’Malley, one of the most talented and creative strikers in the UFC today.
“Absolutely,” O’Malley told Kevin Iole, when asked if he’ll find openings early on in Dvalishvili’s stand-up. “Depends how aggressive he wants to get, it depends how chaotic he wants to make it. Like, that’s where I find my openings. That’s where I’m a sniper. It all comes down to how Merab’s gonna come out…
“He’s gonna come out like a spaz, get knocked out early. He’s gonna come out slow, get knocked out a little bit later. It just depends on he how he comes out. I’m going to find his chin. There’s no question in my mind, will I hit Merab on the chin multiple times? If he can take it multiple times… But, I’m going to find his chin 100%.”
As it so turns out, Dvalishvili’s chin isn’t O’Malley’s only target when they collide at the Sphere…
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“Left Side Of His Face, This Right Hand Doesn’t Miss…”
Another window of opportunity may have just opened up for O’Malley as Dvalishvili suffered a small cut over one of his eyes during training, drawing blood and later criticism from Dana White for exposing his injury to the public for all to see.
Just days away now from Noche UFC, Dvalishvili resumes fight camp (or what’s left of it) claiming he’s A-OK with O’Malley will trying to change that, come fight night.
“I am 100% going to open up that cut, whether it’s healed or not. I don’t know how much it can heal. I’ve never really had any bad cuts, so I’m not sure really. That’s the left side of his face, this right hand doesn’t miss.
“I think I’ll probably accidentally hit his nose before I hit that cut. That nose just kinda takes up, like, 85% of his face, so I’m gonna try to get around his nose and get to that cut. Dana referring to him as one of the— I don’t remember what he said. One of the stupidest people or beyond stupid or whatever he said was pretty accurate. I mean, the dude’s just not that smart of a guy,” O’Malley said of Dvalishvili.
Will Merab Dvalishvili’s cut over his eye play a factor in his fight against a striking “sniper” like Sean O’Malley?
