Coach Tim Welch responds to recent threats from Aljamain Sterling and Merab Dvalishvili over UFC 292 corner controversy

UFC star Sean O’Malley’s head coach, Tim Welch, has spoken out after recent online threats from Aljamain Sterling and Merab Dvalishvili.

O’Malley earned the UFC bantamweight title by finishing Sterling at UFC 292 last year. He’s gone on to defend the belt against Marlon Vera, earning a unanimous decision win at UFC 299.

O’Malley’s win over Sterling has returned to the spotlight after Welch was audibly caught pretending to be a part of Sterling’s corner right before the knockout. In a UFC 292 clip, Welch was heard telling Sterling ‘You gotta go!’ right before O’Malley dropped him with a right hand.

Sterling and Dvalishvili recently went back and forth with Welch on Twitter over the footage. Sterling threatened to assault Welch if they came face-to-face in person, while Dvalishvili also threatened to fight Welch backstage after defeating O’Malley in the cage.

I will smash O’Malley inside the cage and then smash his coach outside of the cage .

— Merab “The Machine” Dvalishvili (@MerabDvalishvil) May 8, 2024

Dust ups are cool for the FIGHTERS BRO. Not the coach. You crossed the line multiple times which is why merab said he will fight you too. Same shit when we almost fought Cejudos team. They were talking shit as if they were fighting. You making yourself fair game. That’s all I’m… https://t.co/jSpiysihh0

— Aljamain Sterling (@funkmasterMMA) May 8, 2024

Coach Tim Welch responds to threats from Sterling, Dvalishvili

In a recent episode of the TimboSugarShow podcast, Welch addressed his recent social media blowup with Dvalishvili and Sterling.

“When [Aljamain] said he wanted to slap me between rounds, I went ‘Oh!’,” Welch said. “I bet you there were people yelling at Michael Jordan. Dude, Aljo is trying to knock my buddy out…Aljo was flustered, and I get it. Bro, I never talk s***, I always give respect. But I must’ve been burning him pretty bad, I don’t know…

“And then he was talking about ‘You’re putting yourself in the pool’, like what kind of pool? A street fight pool?” Welch continued. “What ruleset do you want to do? I’m not going to talk s*** to anyone I think can f*** me up.”

Before training O’Malley and other fighters full-time, Welch fought 20 times in professional MMA, amassing a 14-6 record. He fought in promotions such as Bellator and Fusion Fight League during his fighting career.

Sterling recently made his featherweight debut after the loss to O’Malley at UFC 292. He’s expected to return later this year after defeating Calvin Kattar at UFC 300.

Dvalishvili is expected to be O’Malley’s next title challenger after a long win streak in the cage. He most recently defeated former titleholder Henry Cejudo at UFC 298.

The feud between O’Malley and Dvalishvili’s teams appears to be ramping up, making a future title clash even more intriguing.