#Merab Dvalishvili

[cloacacarnage]

[superbeastmma]

Merab Dvalishvili submits Sean O'Malley to retain the #UFC bantamweight championship! 👏👏👏 #UFC316 #AndStill #TheMachine #GOAT

[theanticool]

Rewatching Merab Dvalishvili vs Sean O'Malley 2 and thinking back to the endless promo videos we got before the fight. It's not bad that O'Malley and team were working a lot on breaking grips and trying to use lateral movement and O'Malley's reach to try to circle around to the center, but they probably should have focused more on keeping O'Malley from getting down hill at all.

The heart of this match-up has always been 'Can O'Malley KO Merab before the fight gets out of control and he gets crushed?' As dumb as his "I'll make it look easy" quote was, it was the thing he needed to do if he wanted to beat Merab. Much of O'Malley's success at 135lbs has come because he's been able to punish guys from closing range with that right hand because he is so long and fast. And he has success cause most of these guys just don't have range games like that (Yan and Aljo) or are so inactive it doesn't matter. One of the frustrating things from the first fight was how much Dvalishvili was willing to chill at range until he built up the confidence to shoot, giving O'Malley avenues to score and hold initiative.

Dvalishvili did not do that in the rematch. Forward pressure most of the night. Kind of feel dumb for not realizing how much O'Malley will concede to a guy pressing forward. He is always trying to reposition himself so that he can land a clean counter as the opponent comes forward. A lot of people will just let O'Malley off the hook though, for fear of the KO. Merab was able to use that to his advantage, feinting to get O'Malley to retreat/move before delivering something meaningful. That's how he got to his first takedown here.

Feints with the lead hand and cuts off the cage with the left hook as soon as O'Malley hits the fence. O'Malley tries to turn to run and ends up giving up his back and the takedown. O'Malley gets up a couple seconds later but obviously it's exhausting and it highlights that Merab came in prepared to make O'Malley pay for trying to escape.

Moments later, similar dilemma. O'Malley is not threatening anything, he's in pure reaction mode. He's skirting along the cage. Merab had just landed a nice counter left hook in the center of the cage so O'Malley tries to create space. Instead, he bites on a feint upstairs and allows Merab to pin him on the fence on the double leg attempt. Cut the gif off cause it was too long but Merab is able to drag O'Malley down from here and hold him there for the rest of the round.

Side note: do not like O'Malley's corner advice. They're telling him to get lower and in a more athletic stance when Merab shoots and the idea should be to keep off the cage and take the initiative back. Think long straight kicks up the middle, jabs, and circling back to open space when you get behind the black line. Establish a threat that Merab has to work around. If you know a guy is trying to drown you, don't throw your guy some water wings. Tell him don't let the other guy drag you in the pool.

O'Malley looked better in round 2. Staying with one foot inside the black lines. Moving well and throwing in combos when he can, but was just running into different problems. First off, Merab is just a better striker than he was like 9 months ago. More confident in the pocket and less likely to just completely reset should O'Malley come forward with an attack.

O'Malley sells out on a big right hand to the body but gets caught with his head in front of his feet. Merab is easily able to fire back 3 punches and 2 of them land hard. And now O'Malley is back on the fence.

The reset problem keeps happening, whenever O'Malley tries to reset and create some space, Merab is just tagging him with a punch. He tries to go square so he can circle out to his right and Merab just comes over the top with a right hand. And when O'Malley does try to come forward, he it's like the last gif. He's selling out on a big punch and eating a flurry of counters from Merab.

Twice in the span of 30 seconds. We're back to fight 1 where Sean is trying to time and sell out on one big move. And while Merab doesn't complete the takedown, he's back to pushing O'Malley into the fence after punching him up on the feet.

This culminates in the 3rd. The legs are dead. Dude is not really moving laterally anymore and is biting on all the feints. He can't really distinguish shot attempts from the overhand on the level change.

Basically the end of the fight those there's still a few minutes left before Merab subs him.

Just nasty work from Merab throughout. Man has really built on his game in the last year. The sharp boxing and improved footwork to more reliably pressure, counter and close range is going to make him even more of a nightmare than I think people realize. Not sure how much longer he can fight like *this* seeing as he's 34 at 135lbs but it'll be a treat seeing him in there if he continues to make adjustments like this.

[momentosfavmma]

A GAS MACHINE

[mmarelated]

[avatarofedemonium]

[fitflex-11]

Merab Dvalishvili – The Relentless Force at UFC 311

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[cagesidepress]

What's Next: UFC 316 Winners

Read the full story on cagesidepress.com

[cloacacarnage]

[theanticool]

Merab Dvalishvili submits Sean O'Malley in the 3rd round!

North-South neck crank (?) puts away Sean O'Malley in the third round.

Just another relentless fight from Dvalishvili. When he gets moving downhill, he is impossible to stop. O'Malley could not create a big enough threat on Merab's entries to dissuade him from coming forward. Looks like the plan was to attack the body with front kicks and jabs and use lateral movement to keep Merab off him. But not enough volume and too much movement meant Merab could pressure O'Malley to the cage to make it easier for him to close distance and land huge shots into takedown entries. And once Merab was able to grab O'Malley, he just didn't let him go. Trips and lifts and reentries kept Sean on the mat until he managed to crawl back up to his knees, only to allow Merab to lock up a face crank. O'Malley tries to spin out and only makes it worse. Forced to tap from north-south position.

Merab defends the belt for a 2nd time. The most definitive win of his UFC career. Only like his 2nd finish.

[momentosfavmma]

BANTAMWEIGHT GOAT???

[thesportswarriors]

Boxing Scandals & UFC 316: PED Cover-Ups, O'Malley vs. Merab Breakdown

Boxing Scandals & UFC Showdowns: The Truth You’re Not Hearing Anywhere Else Combat sports fans — buckle up. The DuCross Brothers are back with two hard-hitting segments you don’t want to miss. We’re peeling back the curtain on the chaos behind the scenes in boxing and diving deep into what’s about to explode inside the UFC Octagon. Boxing’s Biggest PED Scandal? Is There a Cover-Up? Oscar De La…

[olvaheiner]

[avatarofedemonium]

[fitflex-11]

UFC 311: Fight Night Hype for Jan 18!

The spotlight is on—UFC 311 arrives on January 18! Witness the dedication, skill, and determination that make MMA the sport we love.

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