Sean O’Malley describes himself as a “sniper” in the cage and the UFC men’s bantamweight champion will have an additional target at which to aim when he puts his elite striking to the test against Merab Dvalishvili in the main event of UFC 306 on Sept. 14 at the organization’s unique Sphere card in Las Vegas.
Dana White ripped into Dvalishvili in August after the No. 1 contender at 135 pounds posted a video of himself receiving stitches for a small cut he sustained above his left eye less than one month ahead of his first UFC title fight opportunity.
“I am a hundred per cent going to open up that cut, whether it’s healed or not,” O’Malley said during a recent interview with veteran combat sports reporter Kevin Iole.
White questioned why Dvalishvili would want an accurate striker like O’Malley knowing about a possible vulnerability.
“I don’t know how much it can heal,” O’Malley said of his opponent’s cut. “I’ve never had any bad cuts so I’m not sure, but that’s the left side of his face; this right hand doesn’t miss. I’ll probably accidentally hit his nose before I hit that cut. That nose just kind of takes up 85 per cent of his face, so I’m going to try and get around his nose to get to that cut.
“Dana referring to him as (stupid) was pretty accurate. I mean the dude’s just not that smart of a guy.”
O’Malley lands 7.63 significant strikes per minute at 62 per cent accuracy. Dvalishvili doesn’t get hit too often — only absorbing 2.37 significant strikes per minute — because he is a dominant wrestler who lands a whopping 6.43 takedowns per 15 minutes of cage time.
“I’m going to find his chin,” O’Malley added. “There’s no question in my mind. Will I hit him on the chin? Multiple times… if he can take it multiple times.”
Dvalishvili has won 10 consecutive fights dating back to 2018, including consecutive wins over former champions Jose Aldo, Pert Yan and Henry Cejudo. O’Malley is coming off his first successful title defence, when he won a unanimous decision over Marlon Vera at UFC 299 in March.
