The UFC 306 main event may not have been received that well by some sections of the fanbase but it did see the bantamweight title change hands.
Merab Dvalishvili appeared to be in control for the vast majority of the fight against Sean O’Malley, even if the scorecards tell a different story.
Though “Suga” was able to hurt his challenger in the fifth and final round, Dvalishvili’s movement, takedowns and reading of the fight were very effective.
His performance massively impressed the #4-ranked contender Cory Sandhagen who, since the fight, has called next to face O’Malley.
Cory Sandhagen Gives His Post-Fight Analysis Of UFC 306 Main Event
In a recent interview with James Lynch for Fanatics View, Sandhagen gave his thoughts on this past weekend’s bantamweight title fight.
He started by saying that his prediction for the fight had switched as the fight approached, after further consideration.
“I thought O’Malley was going to catch him until I started getting a little bit closer to the fight and I started talking to other people and getting their opinions and what they thought and blah, blah, blah. I was honestly, and not to change my mind because I’m really bad at calling fights, but I did change my mind in this one and go Merab toward the end of it.
“Once I started to reflect on how badass it is to go on a 10 or 11 fight win streak and then also never be finished or anything like that, even though he does get clipped in some of his fights, the shots that he got clipped in weren’t necessarily, like they were lead hooks, they weren’t really things that O’Malley even throws, but I thought Merab did awesome.”
One of the aspects of the fight that Sandhagen was most impressed by was Dvalishvili’s ability to close the distance and shoot for takedowns without putting himself in harm’s way.
This was always going to be where O’Malley was at his most dangerous but it didn’t end up playing into the outcome.
“I thought he fought the fight that you should fight if you have Merab’s skill set against O’Malley. I think he moved when he needed to move. The thing that I was most worried about is Merab’s just a very excitable guy and I was worried that he was gonna not be patient and he was going to bounce around and then make a mistake by going in and he was completely patient. He was cool in there, expect for the whole Tim Welch and his thing in the beginning of the fight but man, he just did such an amazing job and that’s a really, really good win because O’Malley is a really serious fighter.”
Finally, “The Sandman” said that he enjoyed watching this high-stakes clash at the Sphere despite some of the criticisms that it received from fans.
“I know that a lot of fans were bored with that one or whatever but I really do like watching chess matches and I think that that was Merab just out-chessing O’Malley and that was exciting for me to watch.”
