Sean O’Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili didn’t go the way Chito Vera had expected it to.
Rather than a quick knockout for O’Malley’s ever-growing highlight reel, the UFC 306 main event turned out to be a one-sided title fight for Dvalishvili with the challenger taking the champ down six times en route to a unanimous decision victory at the Sphere.
Many have tried to defeat O’Malley before and were none successful until Ecuador’s Vera came along, TKO’ing O’Malley in their matchup in 2020 and putting a blemish on his undefeated record of 12-0. It’d take O’Malley years to get his revenge, dominating Vera in a striking-only affair in their rematch at UFC 299 in March.
Vera Weighs In On The UFC 306 Main Event
O’Malley vs. Dvalishvili was far from a kickboxing match with Dvalishvili’s constant takedown entries that Vera thought his former foe would’ve had an answer for.
“I really thought if Sean could hit Merab early in in the fight, things could change,” Vera said on his YouTube channel. “Based on [the fact] he’s been dropped by [Henry] Cejudo and Marlon Moraes, but he couldn’t land. Merab have that kind of, like, jerky [movement], it’s hard to hit him. In a way, you can’t snap because you almost have to fight him.”
O’Malley vs. Dvalishvili Compared To Conor McGregor vs. Chad Mendes
Last week, Sean O’Malley’s name had been mentioned in the same UFC superstar conversation that Conor McGregor was in and while it’s hard to put them into the same sentence now considering O’Malley’s title loss and stock drop, Vera saw shades of Conor McGregor’s fight against Chad Mendes in the headliner between him and Dvalishvili.
Of course, it was at UFC 189 in 2015 where McGregor was matched up with a wrestler in Chad Mendes on short notice, dealing with much adversity on the ground before finally chipping away Mendes with strikes once he returned to his feet.
“Comparing the fight to Chad Mendes and Conor, every time Conor get up, he will [be on] Chad right away. He will be on his face right away. Every time Sean get up, there was a little separation,” Vera analyzed. “So, that probably messes his rhythm.”
Vera On How To Fight Dvalishvili
While Vera has yet to go toe-to-toe with new champ Dvalishvili in his 24 fights under the UFC banner, the one-time title challenger says he’d like to have seen O’Malley take a different approach than waiting for Dvalishvili to shoot a takedown on him.
“Merab, we all know that he can just take you down over and over and over. So, a guy like that, in my opinion, you just have to sit down and fight him. He’s gonna take you down regardless, might as well just go crazy on him,” Vera said.
Chito Vera compares Sean O’Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili to Conor McGregor vs. Chad Mendes:
— Full Violence ™ (@Full_Violence) September 17, 2024
“Every time Conor get up, he will be in his face right away… every time Sean get up, there was a little separation. That probably messed his rhythm…
You have to sit down and fight… pic.twitter.com/Jhqr1cONhD
