Ahead of Merab Dvalishvili’s rematch against Petr Yan, Sean O’Malley believes there may be one big difference from their first clash.
Last week, UFC boss Dana White announced that Merab Dvalishvili will make history by defending his title for a record fourth time this calendar 12 months when he rematches Petr Yan at UFC 323.
The 2 met back in 2023 after they met during ‘The Machine’s’ run to the bantamweight title, and the Georgian placed on a particularly dominant performance, winning the fight via unanimous decision.
Since then, ‘No Mercy’ has won three fights in a row putting himself back into title contention, and he will likely be hoping that the rematch is totally different to their first clash.
Sean O’Malley explains one in all the largest differences about Dvalishvili vs Yan 2
Someone who is amazingly well-versed to speak in regards to the rematch between Dvalishvili and Yan is former UFC bantamweight champion, Sean O’Malley.
‘Suga’ Sean has shared the cage with each fighters, having lost his title to ‘The Machine’ and subsequently lost his rematch against him earlier this 12 months.
The elite striker scored a controversial win over ‘No Mercy’ Yan in 2022, earning him his shot on the title, by which he subsequently went on to win.
Commenting on the rematch between the 2 bantamweights, O’Malley explained that one in all the largest differences about their second clash, is that it can happen in a much bigger Octagon.
Their first meeting took place on the unique Theater at Virgin Hotels which utilized the smaller cage, just like that of the UFC Apex.
“Petr Yan vs Merab 2. Petr supposedly hurt his hand or had a very bad injury on his hand going into that first fight, I’ll say, the primary fight was within the smaller cage, fighting within the small cage and the large cage is totally different,” O’Malley said in a recent video on his YouTube channel.
Some fans may argue that fighting in the larger cage might be more useful for Yan as it can give him extra space to attempt to get away from Dvalishvili’s takedown attempts.
Daniel Cormier recently disputed the MMA takedown
With each outing, Dvalishvili continues to point out his weaponised cardio along together with his wrestling and grappling skills.
Nonetheless, one in all the best UFC wrestlers of all time, Daniel Cormier, recently disputed the MMA takedown, claiming that it shouldn’t be scored the way it is, discrediting the champion’s recent performance against Cory Sandhagen.