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Bantamweight star Sean O’Malley is best-known for his exceptional striking acumen. The rangy 135'er recently defeated former divisional titleholder Petr Yan in one of the most unexpected results of late 2022. While he is yet to fight this year, many expect him to face whoever emerges as the champion at UFC 288.
After Petr Yan suffered a lopsided unanimous decision loss against Merab Dvalishvili, 'Sugar' expressed an interest in testing his own grappling against the tireless Georgian machine. He mentioned how everyone doubted his ability to beat 'No Mercy', so they ought not to doubt him against anyone.
While there's some merit to that statement, he would be ill-advised to try and test his grappling against Dvalishvili. The gap between their skills is too high, but there are other reasons as well, that this list goes over in detail.
#5. Sean O’Malley will neglect his feinting and stance-switching
Sean O’Malley is a much better striker than Merab Dvalishvili. There is no confusion regarding that. The rangy bantamweight has a plethora of tools and techniques at his disposal that 'The Machine' would never dream of using. First, his collection of feints typically freezes his foes.
He feints with his hands, feet and even his head. Furthermore, he combines his feinting with stance-switching. While this is just one aspect of his striking game, it's enough that it causes his opponents to overreact when he's not in range to land any blows, which disrupts their rhythm in its entirety.
If he tries to test Dvalishvili's grappling as he claims he wants to, he'll undercut his own advantage because he won't be able to have as deep a pool of tricks when it comes to feinting if he's stuck in an extended clinch-grappling sequence.
#4. He won't be in a position to use his kicks
There's been a lack of dynamic kickers in top-level MMA for quite some time. Other than Israel Adesanya and Yair Rodriguez, very few fighters competing under Dana White's banner showcase any variety regarding their kicking techniques. Even 'The Last Stylebender' has reverted to relying mainly on low kicks.
Sean O’Malley is the only other fighter that comes to mind. He often uses some of his kicks to set up other kicks. For example, he makes liberal use of low kicks and front kicks to punish his opponents from long range as he stands on the outside. Due to his natural power, his kicks are hard enough to make his foes take note.
His kicks deal so much damage that his opponents are quick to drop their hands low to catch, block or parry his kicks. Once his foes repeated this reaction several times, he faked low kicks before transitioning into a head kick over the top mid-kick. His front kicks work similarly.
They caused his opponents to stand upright, leaving them in a poor position to defend against his head kicks. If he's spending time in extended grappling sequences, he'll be unable to use his kicks in such tight spaces.
#3. His cardio isn't up to par
While he may not look athletic, Sean O’Malley is a bundle of fast-twitch muscle fibers. He is a powerful and explosive fighter with a breadth of knockout power and blistering speed. Thus, he doesn't have as great a number of slow-contracting, oxidative muscle fibers designed for steady-state work.
Unfortunately, for him, grappling relies on the latter. This is why the likes of Michael Chandler and Yoel Romero, despite being decorated wrestlers, rarely use their grappling skills. They're so explosive that if they engage in long grappling chains, they'll tire very quickly.
Sean O’Malley doesn't have the best cardio in the world. Even against opponents that aren't pushing much of the pace against him, he tires significantly halfway through the second round. Meanwhile, Merab Dvalishvili is tireless and recently broke the record for the most takedown attempts in UFC history.
Even fighters with excellent cardio like Petr Yan wilted against the Georgian's endless cardio and grappling. If 'Sugar' ever faces 'The Machine', he shouldn't subject himself to a situation that will quickly sap him of his energy.
#2. The matchup itself is risky
Sean O’Malley certainly has the tools to defeat Merab Dvalishvili if the pair ever cross swords. That isn't why the nature of the matchup is risky. While Aljamain Sterling remains seated on the bantamweight throne, 'The Machine' will not challenge him for the divisional title.
He has stressed this several times, including recently despite UFC president Dana White's displeasure. The Georgian grappler is the number-one ranked bantamweight in the promotion. But if he continues defeating potential challengers without any desire for a title shot, he's depriving the division of title fights.
Opponents who would otherwise make for interesting matchups against Aljamain Sterling will never earn a title fight due to 'The Machine' constantly beating away any potential challengers. This is a matchmaker's nightmare, and even worse if he does this against a potential PPV star like Sean O’Malley.
If 'Sugar' makes the ill-advised decision to test his grappling against Dvalishvili, he is making himself easier to beat against someone who is simply blocking everyone off from title shots.
#1. Merab Dvalishvili is simply a better grappler
While Sean O’Malley is by far the best striker between the two, Merab Dvalishvili is the superior grappler by some margin. The Georgian contender is a Judo black belt with a lifetime of grappling experience in traditional Georgian wrestling and even Sambo. Back in 2019, he traveled to South Korea.
There, he competed in the Sambo World Championships and did well enough to finish in second place. He is a more credentialed grappler and far more experienced. To welcome grappling sequences with him would be a foolhardy decision for 'Sugar'.
Stepping into his world would only succeed in making Sean O’Malley look as bad as possible in a potential loss, which would ultimately harm his starpower and image. He played off his loss to Marlon Vera as a fluke, but a loss wherein he could be made to look out of his depth would be difficult to recover from.
