Joe Rogan expects Sean O’Malley to struggle with Merab Dvalishvili’s stifling offense once again at UFC 316.
O’Malley (18-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) will look to avenge his bantamweight title loss to Dvalishvili at UFC 306 when the pair run things back in the June 7 main event at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.
O’Malley was taken down six times and controlled for over 10 minutes in his unanimous decision loss to Dvalishvili. He did however enter the fight with a hip injury which later required surgery. Despite a healthier version of O’Malley who underwent lifestyle changes for the rematch, Rogan wonders how he will handle Dvalishvili’s game plan.
“That’s an interesting fight – very interesting fight,” Rogan said in a recent episode of his “Joe Rogan Experience.” “I do not know how ‘Suga’ Sean keeps that guy off of him, but I do like what he’s been doing. Got off social media, stopped smoking weed, just dialed the f*ck in. Got his hip fixed, which was a big problem. There’s a lot of these fighters that take these fights because it’s a lot of money, and it’s a big event, and they don’t want to cancel, and they’ve got a significant injury.
“Sean could not wrestle. Imagine not being able to wrestle in camp and you’ve got to go face Merab. He’s a f*cking animal. That guy’s superhuman – there’s no one like him. The cardio that guy has is off the charts. It’s just off the charts. I’ve never seen anything like it. He doesn’t get tired. He’s full gas, no brakes the entire fight. It’s just smothering, overwhelming people. Even (Umar) Nurmagomedov, who’s also an animal – he couldn’t keep him off of him. This motherf*cker is crazy.”
After dethroning O’Malley to become champion, Dvalishvili handed Umar Nurmagomedov his first-career loss at UFC 311 in January.
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