Merab Dvalishvili a problem, but Sean O’Malley his ‘Kryptonite’

Tim Welch continues to be assured Sean O’Malley can beat UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili.

Dvalishvili (19-4 MMA, 12-2 UFC) dethroned O’Malley to change into champion at UFC 306, and efficiently defended his title in a unanimous resolution win over Umar Nurmagomedov in Saturday’s UFC 311 co-main occasion in Inglewood, Calif.

Each Welch and O’Malley (18-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) have been in attendance for the battle, and Welch was impressed with Dvalishvili’s cardio, which helped him rally late to beat Nurmagomedov.

“Umar got here on the market, stayed largely southpaw, was throwing some sharp 1-2s at first, and searching sharp,” Welch mentioned on his YouTube channel. “And Merab, fourth, fifth spherical, simply began taking up. You may inform after that fourth spherical, Umar was critically gassed. He was actually drained. He did an excellent job wrestling. Merab was taking pictures a ton and Umar was doing an incredible job at stuffing all of his photographs.

“If he did hit his butt, he’d hit his butt only for a second, pop proper up. However Merab simply saved that tempo, saved that cardio on him – and he’s acquired some cardio, I’ll let you know that. (He) got here out within the fifth spherical, saved pressuring him, and that final 30 seconds of the battle I feel actually made Merab win the battle.”

O’Malley was largely outgrappled within the majority of his battle in opposition to Dvalishvili, however was capable of damage him with a physique kick in Spherical 5. It was later revealed that O’Malley went into his battle with a torn left labrum in his hip, and Welch thinks they’d put up a greater battle in a rematch.

“He’s an issue. He’s an enormous drawback,” Welch continued on Dvalishvili. “However I do imagine that we may very well be the Kryptonite to Merab with the correct recreation plan and an excellent battle camp. With ‘Suga’ wholesome, I feel we take him out. And we’ll discover out, now received’t we?”

Dvalishvili, who’s unbeaten in his previous 12 fights, mentioned he’s open to operating issues again with O’Malley for his subsequent title protection.