The general consensus leading up to Sean O'Malley defending his bantamweight world title against Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306 on September 14 is that O'Malley is the noted better striker, but Dvalishvili could possibly present problems to the champion with his wrestling.
But O'Malley, winner of six of his last seven fights, doesn't see the latter happening at all.
"I don't think he's going to test my wrestling," O'Malley told ESPN MMA’s Brett Okamoto recently.
O'Malley feels that way because he believes his striking will end Dvalishvili's night before the challenger can pose any threat with his wrestling.
"I don't think Merab is going to be the one to test my wrestling to be honest. I truly believe I'm going to put his lights out very early," O'Malley offered.
He added: "I believe if I find Merab's chin, the way I was able to find 'Chito's' chin, the way I found Aljo's chin, I'm going to get him out of there."
With each of his last fights, O'Malley feels like he has had to answer questions.
Against Aljamain Sterling, Dvalishvili's stablemate and then-bantamweight champ, the question was whether O'Malley could resolve Sterling's wrestling. He answered with a resounding second-round TKO of Sterling in their August 2023 meeting.
Fighting Marlon "Chito" Vera in a March 2024 rematch, critics wondered if O'Malley's conditioning was up to the task of hanging with the veteran's incessant motor. O'Malley answered with a unanimous decision and believes he'll answer any questions against Dvalishvili even more emphatically.
"Aljo tested my wrestling a little bit, had me up against the fence twice, didn't take me down once," O'Malley evaluated. "I felt like that was a huge win to answer questions about wrestling.
He added: "'Chito,' didn't even try to take me down once. That was the cardio question, 'never had been five rounds, can he do that?' Did it, boom."
And now, he guarantees Dvalishvili will suffer an even worse fate.
"I'm 5'11", call it 6'2", long, gonna be sniping him," O'Malley insisted. "It's not going to be a good fight for Merab."
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