Merab Dvalishvili’s head coach, John Wood, recently revealed what he, too, yelled at Sean O’Malley’s corner, specifically his coach Tim Welch, during the heat of their clash at Noche UFC 306.
“The Machine” put on a dominant display against reigning champion O’Malley, claiming the UFC bantamweight title last Saturday inside the Sphere in Las Vegas, Nevada. Dvalishvili commanded the majority of the bout, expertly delivering well-timed takedowns to counter “Suga” and keep him at arm’s length. Ultimately, the Georgian powerhouse walked away with a decisive unanimous decision win.
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While Dvalishvili commanded the entire bout, effortlessly executing his game plan, the real stir came when the newly crowned champion suddenly interrupted the proceedings, fiercely gesturing towards O’Malley’s corner just moments into the fight. The sequence triggered swift intervention from referee Herb Dean.
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In a recent tweet, Dvalishvili revealed that Welch was trying to pull the same stunt he had used against Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292 last year. Welch had shouted instructions, seemingly to trick Sterling into believing they came from his own corner during his fight with O’Malley. This time, he attempted the same tactic at Noche UFC 306, which is why “The Machine” immediately protested.
Although Dvalishvili didn’t fall for the ruse, Wood claims he decided to play the same card against O’Malley himself…
Wood Takes A Swing At Welch, Tells Him To Leave Trash Talk To The Fighters
During a recent interview with MMAFightingonSBN, Wood weighed in on the fiasco between Dvalishvili and O’Malley’s corner at Noche UFC 306. The seasoned MMA coach expressed that, while he respects Welch as a person, his antics to distract opponents don’t align with the true spirit of the sport. Wood admitted that after seeing Welch’s attempts to mess with his fighter, he decided to turn the tables, using a similar tactic on “Suga”—but with his own twist.
That’s not our job, Wood said. “I’m not trashing Tim for anything he does. I respect Tim, but it is a bullsh*t move. I was yelling at Tim across the cage several times when Sean would mess up, and I was making sure Sean heard me calling out everything that he wanted to throw. When he would do something stupid, I caught myself a couple of times in the fight, going, ‘Tim, did you teach him that? That was terrible’ across the cage.
Wood didn’t hold back and fired yet another salvo at “Suga’s” coach, criticizing him for trying to rattle Dvalishvili during the media events. He advised Welch to leave the trash-talking to the fighters where it belongs.
Fighters are there to trash talk, to build the fight, do their thing, whether they like each other, don’t like each other, but I don’t think it’s a place for coaches to get in. Tim was doing some stuff beforehand, like at the weigh-ins, he was talking sh*t to Merab on camera, saying things, and that’s fine. If you really feel like you need that mental edge, and especially if you could see how fragile Sean was and how quickly he broke, maybe they do. But like I said, I have nothing against Tim. The tactics, I wouldn’t do it; I don’t need the shine. I don’t need to be the guy in front of my fighter looking to get any kind of attention.
