Sean O’Malley’s coach responds to Merab Dvalishvili’s recent threats: “Taking on me is not very smart”
The bad blood between Sean O’Malley, his coach, and Merab Dvalishvili is intensifying ahead of UFC 306 next month.
O’Malley and Dvalishvili headline UFC 306 on September 14th in Las Vegas. The event is the first, and potentially only, UFC pay-per-view to take place at the Las Vegas Sphere.
Ahead of the highly-anticipated card, O’Malley and Dvalishvili have traded barbs in-person and online. The two sides came face-to-face during a recent promo shoot, and Dvalishvili expressed anger in addressing some of the recent beef with O’Malley’s head coach.
Former UFC bantamweight champion, Aljamain Sterling, has also cautioned O’Malley and his coach for their recent banter. After being in some of the headlines in recent weeks, O’Malley’s coach has responded to Dvalishvili and Sterling.
Coach Tim Welch warns Merab Dvalishvili after Sean O’Malley faceoff
In a recent interview with Submission Radio, coach Tim Welch reacted to the recent O’Malley vs. Dvalishvili faceoff and squabble.
“It’s probably not smart for Merab to [get in an altercation with me] during fight week,” Welch said of Dvalishvili. “Maybe after the fight. You’ve got the biggest fight of your life, the opportunity to get a world championship. So, fight week, stepping into my fight is probably not smart. You have a fight ahead of me that you’re going to get paid for…
“But, we’ll see what happens. If they think our team is going to cower down to their team, like [Henry] Cejudo’s team did, then they’re gonna be wrong, they’re wrong about that.”
O’Malley won the bantamweight title by finishing Sterling at UFC 292 last year. He last defended the belt against Marlon Vera at UFC 299 in March.
Dvalishvili earned the title shot following a 10-fight winning streak. He’s earned wins over the likes of Henry Cejudo, Petr Yan, and José Aldo during his current run.
Tensions are ramping up between O’Malley and Dvalishvili, and their respective coaches are also getting involved in the beef. UFC 306 fight week could feature plenty of interesting headlines, especially if a physical altercation surfaces.
