Max Holloway predicts Sean O’Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili: “If there’s one hole he has…”

BMF titleholder Max Holloway shared his prediction for the UFC 306 main event between Sean O’Malley and Merab Dvalishvili.

O’Malley, the UFC’s bantamweight champion, will defend the title for the second time against Dvalishvili at UFC 306. The bantamweight headliner caps off a stacked card at the UFC’s annual Mexican Independence Day Weekend event.

O’Malley vs. Dvalishvili is arguably one of the biggest fights of 2024. Comparatively, it’s a prototypical striker vs. grappler matchup, although both fighters have diverse skill sets.

Holloway, one of the top boxers in the UFC, thinks the striker will stop the wrestler this weekend in the main event.

Max Holloway picks Sean O’Malley to defeat Merab Dvalishvili

During a recent video uploaded to his YouTube channel, Holloway picked O’Malley to emphatically stop Dvalishvili’s rise.

“I’m kind of surprised about these [betting] odds. It always blows my mind when the champion is the underdog,” Holloway said. “Merab has great cardio, great pressure, great fighter. But one hole in his game that we’ve seen over and over again is he gets caught…

“If there’s one guy in the bantamweight division that you do not want to get caught by, it is Sean [O’Malley]. A lot of guys tease Sean on how he’s skinny, lanky, long, and looks brittle…that’s just who he is, that’s just how he is,” Holloway continued. “That’s how he carries himself and you can’t take away that this guy can fight. He can crack and knocks out people…my belief in this fight, I’m going Sean. No disrespect to Merab, great everywhere…but man, if you [make] mistakes, if you get caught clean by Sean and he knows you’re hurt, he’s going to find another shot to put you down. That’s just it.”

Holloway returns to the Octagon at UFC 308 against UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria.