Marlon Vera recently drew parallels to one of Conor McGregor's fights to highlight the strategic missteps Sean O'Malley made in his bout against Merab Dvalishvili.
"Suga's" reign as champion came to a close last weekend in the main event of Noche UFC 306 at The Sphere in Las Vegas, where he endured a unanimous decision defeat at the hands of Dvalishvili.
O'Malley struggled to find his rhythm throughout the fight as Dvalishvili stormed in, guns blazing, unleashing an unyielding assault of takedowns. The defending champion had no answers for the onslaught and ultimately fell short, losing the bout.
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O'Malley initially seemed reluctant to let his strikes fly during the fight, possibly due to "The Machine's" dominance in chain wrestling and calculated approach, which suffocated the American’s ability to find his footing.
Interestingly, "Chito," who has shared the Octagon with O'Malley twice, echoed similar sentiments regarding the defending champion's performance...
Vera Believes O'Malley Missed Early Striking Opportunity To Counter Dvalishvili's Gameplan
During a recent video on his YouTube channel, Vera shared his thoughts on the title bout between O'Malley and Dvalishvili at Noche UFC 306. The former title challenger suggested that if "Suga" had landed some early shots on a fresh Dvalishvili, the outcome could have swung in his favor.
Vera pointed out that Dvalishvili has been rocked before, referencing his previous knockdowns at the hands of Henry Cejudo and Marlon Moraes.
he main event, it was a guy that I just fought two fights ago against Merab," Vera said. "That was a great fight. I mean, I really thought if Sean could have hit Merab early in the fight, things could change, based on him being dropped by Cejudo and Marlon Moraes, but he just couldn't land. Merab has that kind of jerky move like it's hard to hit him in a way you can snipe this guy. You almost have to fight him.
"Chito" went on to compare O'Malley’s tactical blunder to Conor McGregor's second-round TKO victory over Chad Mendes at UFC 189 in July 2015. Vera highlighted that every time "The Notorious" broke free from Mendes' takedowns, he immediately closed the distance and applied pressure. In contrast, O'Malley did the opposite against "The Machine", allowing Dvalishvili to dictate the fight.
I would say the one thing, comparing the fight to Chad Mendes and Conor, is that every time Conor got up, he would crawl right away, like he would be in his face immediately. Every time Sean got up, there was a little separation, so that probably messed with his rhythm. And Merab, we all know, can just take you down over and over. So I think, in my opinion, you just have to sit down and fight him. He's going to take you down regardless, so you might as well just go crazy on him. But overall, great fight. Congratulations to the new champion.
O'Malley captured the bantamweight title against Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292 in August 2023. He went on to defend his belt in impressive style against Vera at UFC 299 this past March, where he avenged the sole setback on his Octagon record.
Following his recent defeat, the 29-year-old Montana native shared that he has no plans to step back into the Octagon anytime soon, hinting at a potential return around mid-2025.