"He's going to be the guy breaking the guy in the fives" - Sean O'Malley's coach Tim Welch explains why a five-round fight will probably play to "smart fighter" 'Sugar's advantage

Tim Welch, the head coach of Sean O'Malley, has stated that 'Sugar' is talented enough to adapt during a fight, even if it is scheduled for five rounds.

O'Malley earned the biggest win of his career at UFC 280 when he defeated Petr Yan via split decision. The result was contentious, with some fans and fighters calling it a robbery. In the eyes of O'Malley and his coach, landing more significant strikes than Yan (84-58) and causing more damage was more than enough for the victory.

Many believe that if the fight was five rounds, Yan would have cruised towards a win. The Russian is routinely known to start fights slowly and pick up pace later on. According to Tim Welch, however, five rounds would have also benefitted his charge. He told ESPN MMA:

"He's [Sean O'Malley] a smart fighter. He's in there, he's not emotional, he's not thinking about the crowd or external things. He's in there, in the moment, thinking about his breathing and the techniques he's doing. He's such a good athlete and so good at being present when he fights and like I said, he's so good at being present when he fights. He's going to be able to adapt quickly and he's going to be the guy breaking the guy in fives."

Catch Tim Welch's interview here:

---

Daniel Cormier weighs in on whether Sean O'Malley or Henry Cejudo will fight for the bantamweight title next

Daniel Cormier believes the UFC will be more inclined to choose Sean O'Malley than Henry Cejudo to face Aljamain Sterling. 'DC' has stated that not only is it because 'Sugar' is now the No.1-ranked bantamweight, but he is also a bigger draw than Cejudo.

On the latest episode of 3 Rounds with DC!, the former double-champion discussed the bantamweight division. Cormier believes that from a business standpoint, it makes sense to push for O'Malley vs. Sterling rather than give the returning Henry Cejudo an immediate title shot:

"I would consider making Sterling's next fight Sean O'Malley, right now. Right now, I would think, let's do O'Malley. Yesterday, on DC & RC, I said it's going to be Henry Cejdudo and I believe that because Sean O'Malley's gonna need some time to recover because that was a war against Petr Yan."

The 43-year-old added:

"I still would think about maybe making this guy [O'Malley] next because regardless of what you feel and how you feel the fight was judged, at the end of the day, O'Malley got his hand raised... For the sport, Henry Cejudo, as the guy who left as a double champion should be next... but I think it's more than likely to be Sean."

Catch Cormier's podcast here: