The main event of UFC 306 that goes down on Saturday night inside the Sphere has proven to be a tough one to call for many people.
In the champion Sean O'Malley, you have an incredibly dangerous striker who is always calm under pressure and reads fights incredible well. Merab Dvalishvili, meanwhile, is a perfect counter part to that and swaps aesthetically pleasing offense for an unbreakable will and never-ending gas tank, which he uses to overwhelm opponents from bell to bell.
In many ways, the two men are the perfect counter to one another and that provides the question: who will be able to implement their specific skillset the best?
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This clash of styles that goes back to the earliest days of mixed martial arts is something that John Kavanagh referenced when weighing in with his thoughts.
Speaking to Lucky Block in a recent interview, the head coach of Conor McGregor described the upcoming bantamweight title fight as a "throwback."
Both O'Malley and Dvalishvili are capable in all areas but there's no denying where they are at their best, which just so happens to be their opponent's kryptonite in this fight.
I’m really, I’m really looking forward to that. In MMA today it’s usually two guys that are quite well skilled everywhere. And this one I feel is a bit of a throwback to when you’ve somebody very skilled in striking versus somebody very skilled in grappling, so the classic striker versus grappler. If Merab is unable to close that distance, he’s going to be in a lot of trouble. If Merab can close that distance and start chaining his takedowns together, he’s got the most incredible gas tank. He just goes and goes and goes. If he’s able to get attached, Sean’s in a lot of trouble. So it’s a very interesting fight for me as a fan and as a coach.
Kavanagh followed up his thoughts on the matchup by giving his prediction for the fight, leaning toward the belt staying in O'Malley's possession thanks to his lethal striking.
If you were to put a gun to my head for a prediction, I do think Sean will catch him. He’s such a sharp shooter. He’s got fantastic striking and I could see him landing some of those big stray shots. He has a win over Merab’s teammate Aljamain Sterling so I’m sure that Aljamain is helping out Merab a lot in the preparation for this but Sean is on a real run at the moment and I could just see him getting that finish.
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