Israel Adesanya issues definitive prediction for Merab Dvalishvili vs. Sean O'Malley fight at UFC 316: "I love the discipline"

Israel Adesanya is known for his occasional predictions ahead of upcoming UFC fights. This time, he took to his official YouTube channel to share his prediction for the UFC 316 main event, which sees Merab Dvalishvili defend his bantamweight title against Sean O'Malley in a rematch.

While Adesanya recognizes that Dvalishvili is a freak of nature in terms of his cardio and strength, he believes O'Malley is as well-prepared as he's ever been. He said:

"It's a hard fight, but I'm gonna go [with] Sean O'Malley because I believe, I believe, I believe, man. And just seeing the work he's done this camp, not just in the gym. The stuff outside the gym. I love the discipline, I love the focus, and Merab lives this as well. Merab is gonna come ready, fully equipped, and he's got the confidence cause he knows he's beat him before."

Despite admitting that Dvalishvili will have confidence due to his prior win over O'Malley from UFC 306, Adesanya ultimately thinks 'Suga' will knock him out.

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"He's 'The Machine,' he's like, 'Bro, I'm not gonna get tired.' But I just feel like Sean is dialed in, and Sean can catch him. Merab gets hit and Sean can catch. But yeah, official pick I'm gonna go Sean O'Malley and it's gonna be the return of the Suga Show. Knockout, round two," he added.

Check out Israel Adesanya's prediction for the UFC 316 main event (14:06):

O'Malley himself believes that he can knock Dvalishvili out, but both men remain confident in their chances ahead of UFC 316. For O'Malley, though, a loss would be disastrous, as a third fight with Dvalishvili would be nearly impossible to justify.

Israel Adesanya trained with Sean O'Malley in the leadup to UFC 316

Israel Adesanya and Sean O'Malley are both longtime admirers of each other. Both men are flashy strikers who ascended to the very top of their respective divisions.

O'Malley once captured the bantamweight title, while Adesanya was a long-reigning middleweight champion. Now, the two have finally trained together.

Check out Israel Adesanya and Sean O'Malley training together:

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Notably, 'The Last Stylebender' is coming off a stunning TKO loss to Nassourdine Imavov earlier this year.

About the author

Ricardo has been an MMA writer at Sportskeeda for the past 2 years, having previously worked for The Sportster. In his time at Sportskeeda, the kickboxing and Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner has penned over 2000 articles, including five exclusive pieces, and raked in more than 4 million views. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics.

Ricardo’s earliest memory of becoming an MMA fan dates back to 2009 when Lyoto Machida defeated Rashad Evans in the headlining bout of UFC 98. His Mt. Rushmore of MMA fighters includes Georges St-Pierre, Jon Jones, Fedor Emelianenko, Anderson Silva, and Alexander Volkanovski.

Ricardo aspires to be at the forefront of covering MMA soon by becoming a part of discussion panels that conduct pre-fight predictions, post-fight breakdowns, and fantasy fight breakdowns. His articles are supported by extensive research and double checking of information via multiple sources.

Beyond work, Ricardo likes to write and draw.

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Edited by Tejas Rathi