The sport of MMA moves so fast that even after a major event like UFC 306, there is very little time before everyone has moved on to the next major talking point.
Merab Dvalishvili winning the UFC bantamweight title in the main event of the promotion’s second annual Noche UFC already feels like it happened months ago.
His performance against Sean O’Malley inside the Sphere answered some very intriguing questions that fans had going into the fight.
Not only was Dvalishvili able to dominate the fight with his grappling when he did close the distance, he was able to avoid taking significant damage for the majority of the duration.
Jon Anik Says Fighters Like Merab Dvalishvili & Belal Muhammad Don’t Get Enough Credit
In a recent interview with James Lynch for Middle Easy, UFC commentator Jon Anik gave his thoughts on Dvalishvili’s performance.
He looked to really emphasize how it wasn’t just the grappling of the challenger at UFC 306 that was impressive, it was his overall game.
Dvalishvili was constantly moving and giving O’Malley something new to think about and thanks to his unrelenting gas tank, that continued across all five rounds.
Anik also made reference to Belal Muhammad’s title win at UFC 304 where of course, the biggest takeaway was his grappling success, but that didn’t tell the whole story of the fight where his striking was also very effective.
“A lot of people might have fancied Umar (Nurmagomedov) against either guy and maybe now they’re not so sure just given how dominant Merab was and guys like Merab Dvalishvili and Belal Muhammad are never going to get credit for what they do as strikers. If they have a nice jab or a nice point of entry but man, the total package of Merab, like the dude needs to be tested for science right? And yeah, I’m saying that for comedic value but what is inside of there?”
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