Sean O’Malley criticizes Merab Dvalishvili’s fighting style ahead of UFC 316: “Finisher vs. decisioner”

Sean O’Malley isn’t a fan of Merab Dvalishvili and the way he fights at UFC 316.

O’Malley is set to rematch Dvalishvili in their fight back in September, which Dvalishvili won by decision to become the bantamweight champion. It was a disappointing result for O’Malley, who’s now looking to reclaim his belt.

Heading into the rematch at UFC 316, Sean O’Malley knows Merab Dvalishvili is just trying to hold onto him and has no desire to actually fight him.

“It’s no secret, it’s striker vs. wrestler, it’s finisher vs. decisioner. His game plan is to get ahold of me and hold me. My goal is to out there and put his lights out,” O’Malley said on UFC Countdown… “This fight, he said I’m going to prove how crazy I am, I am going to box with him. If that’s his game plan, that would be stupid. I know I can put Merab’s lights out. UFC 316, I am going to finish Merab, the fact that he beat me and I go out and finish him makes it that much sweeter.”

It’s an interesting comment from Sean O’Malley, who may want to entice Merab Dvalishvili to stand and trade with him. In their first fight, Dvalishvili was able to get six takedowns and had 10:03 of control time, which ‘Suga’ is trying to put an end to.

Merab Dvalishvili is expecting a ‘good fight’ against Sean O’Malley

Entering UFC 316, Meran Dvalishvili is a sizeable favorite as the oddsmakers expect him to beat Sean O’Malley again.

Yet, heading into the bout, Dvalishvili claims he wants to strike with O’Malley as he wants a KO win.

“I’m just going to strike back. When two guys go like that, it’s always a good fight. I want to strike and knock him out,” Dvalishvili said.

Sean O’Malley is 18-2 and one NC as a pro and coming off the loss to Dvalishvili. He had defended his belt once with a decision win over Marlon Vera after a KO win over Aljamain Sterling.