Sean O’Malley is looking forward to the matchup between Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili, the two bantamweights ranked just below him.
Top bantamweight contender Sean O’Malley has provided his official prediction for the upcoming UFC Fight Night 221 main event between Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili.
“Sugar” currently occupies the #1 spot in the UFC”s bantamweight rankings after he earned a close split decision win over Yan on the main card of UFC 280. The former champion was a sizeable favorite heading into the fight, but the loss to O’Malley was his second in a row and now leaves him with a 1-3 record across his last four bouts.
“No Mercy” has argued that he actually won that fight at UFC 280, but if he wants to work back into title contention he’ll have to halt the considerable momentum of #3-ranked Merab Dvalishvili in a fantastic matchup between top bantamweights. Fans have been looking forward to the bout since it was announced, and on his YouTube channel O’Malley claimed he’s just as excited as anybody else to take in the action.
“Very interesting fight here, [Petr Yan] versus Merab,” O’Malley said. “Five rounds. I think Petr, I think he’s gonna just – it’s gonna be interesting. I don’t know if he’s gonna be able to damage Merab as much if Merab’s on him the whole time. I think we were surprised by Petr’s wrestling the first fight against Aljo, and then Aljo came out in the second [fight] was able to take him down, take his back. The thing is, Aljo thinks wrestle, then jiu-jitsu. Merab thinks wrestle, wrestle, wrestle, wrestle. I have you in a position, I’m gonna hold you, I’m gonna control you, wrestle, wrestle, wrestle. Will he be able to do that against Petr Yan? I don’t know, that’s what’s so exciting, we get to find out.”
Sean O’Malley picks Petr Yan to defeat Merab Dvalishvili
O’Malley is the only bantamweight ranked about Yan and Dvalishvili aside from current champion Aljamain Sterling, and “Sugar” thinks that the former bantamweight title holder will get back into the win column at UFC Fight Night 221.
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