Sean O’Malley’s coach admits Merab Dvalishvili is ‘a big problem’

UFC bantamweight Sean O’Malley has recently talked about moving up to the featherweight division , and he’s hinted at taking a boxing match . But don’t think for a second that the 29-year-old superstar is looking past his UFC 306 matchup with Merab Dvalishvili.

“Merab’s a big problem,” said O’Malley’s coach, Tim Welch , on the latest iteration of "UFC 306 Embedded." “So we trained really, really hard, and [O’Malley] was very disciplined for this fight because it’s a huge challenge.”

O’Malley himself then hinted that The Machine has a shot against him. A reporter at a UFC press conference ahead of the Saturday event asked the champion about Dvalishvili’s predictable takedown strategy . O’Malley replied, “Him having that style is either going to work for him, or it’s going to get him knocked out.”

Meanwhile, Dvalishvili said he’s “happy, healthy and ready” ahead of his title shot against the No. 6 pound-for-pound UFC fighter. Dvalishvili, The No. 1 bantamweight contender, also directed a threat at Welch.

“O’Malley, you better show up,” the Georgian grappler postured. “If you don’t show up, I’m going to fight your coach, Tim.”

Dvalishvili, 33, is riding a 10-fight winning streak into the Las Vegas Sphere. He hasn’t lost in over six years, and his last three victories have come against the likes of Jose Aldo, Petr Yan and Henry Cejudo.

Notably, both O’Malley and Dvalishvili have fought Yan within the last two years. Dvalishvili beat Yan by unanimous decision in March 2023, while O’Malley won via split decision in October 2022.

Speculation aside, Saturday’s main event is virtually guaranteed to be a wild affair. O’Malley should be looking for a knockout early. But if he can’t make that happen, his own words describing Dvalishvili’s chances could come back to haunt him.