Ahead of Merab Dvalishvili’s rematch against Petr Yan, Sean O’Malley believes there is 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 year when he rematches Petr Yan at UFC 323.
The two met back in 2023 when they met during ‘The Machine’s’ run to the bantamweight title, and the Georgian put on an extremely 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 be hoping that the rematch is completely different to their first clash.
Sean O’Malley explains one of the biggest differences about Dvalishvili vs Yan 2
Someone who is extremely well-versed to talk about the rematch between Dvalishvili and Yan is former UFC bantamweight champion, Sean O’Malley.
‘Suga’ Sean has shared the cage with both fighters, having lost his title to ‘The Machine’ and subsequently lost his rematch against him earlier this year.
The elite striker scored a controversial win over ‘No Mercy’ Yan in 2022, earning him his shot at the title, in which he subsequently went on to win.
Commenting on the rematch between the two bantamweights, O’Malley explained that one of the biggest differences about their second clash, is that it will take place in a bigger Octagon.
Their first meeting took place at the unique Theater at Virgin Hotels which utilized the smaller cage, similar to that of the UFC Apex.
“Petr Yan vs Merab 2. Petr supposedly hurt his hand or had a really bad injury on his hand going into that first fight, I will say, the first fight was in the smaller cage, fighting in the small cage and the big cage is completely different,” O’Malley said in a recent video on his YouTube channel.
Some fans may argue that fighting in the bigger cage could be more beneficial for Yan as it will give him more space to try and get away from Dvalishvili’s takedown attempts.
Daniel Cormier recently disputed the MMA takedown
With each outing, Dvalishvili continues to show his weaponised cardio along with his wrestling and grappling skills.
However, one of the greatest UFC wrestlers of all time, Daniel Cormier, recently disputed the MMA takedown, claiming that it shouldn’t be scored how it is, discrediting the champion’s recent performance against Cory Sandhagen.