Merab 2.0? Coach promises more submissions and knockouts from the champion and does not rule out a trilogy with O'Malley

Merab Dvalishvili finishes Sean O'Malley in UFC 316. Photo: Reproduction/X/UFC News

The submission over Sean O'Malley, in the second defense of the bantamweight belt (up to 61,2 kg), broke a streak of five victories by decision of the judges of Merab Dvalishvili.. According to the champion's coach, John Wood, it is just the beginning of a new, more aggressive era for the Georgian.

In an interview with 'MMA Fighting', the coach was full of praise for his pupil and promised that fans can expect more knockouts and submissions from him. Merab Dvalishvili, who won 15 of his 20 career fights by judges' decision.

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“Mark my words, this is not going to be the first and only finish. There will be knockouts. There will be TKOs. He (Merab) is still improving. Sean defended takedowns in the first fight. Sean did things in the later rounds of the first fight. As a coach, my job is to understand what he could do better in the rematch and what we needed to change and adjust strategy-wise. It worked perfectly. Merab is special and people are starting to notice. The timing, the vision, the way he listens and learns. He can adapt to anyone at any time. He finds a way,” Wood praised.

Merab became champion with a dominant victory over O'Malley in September last year. In the rematch last Saturday (7), in an even more relaxed manner, he finished his rival and defended the title for the second time. Despite the 2-0 score in the direct confrontation, the coach does not rule out a third chapter in the future.

“In terms of reality, I would say we won’t see each other again. In terms of the UFC, with them deciding that one win changes everything, if O’Malley goes in there and finishes the next guy, everyone will jump on the hype again. He could come in and say that when he fought Merab the second time he had an injured foot or something. One or two more knockouts and you know how things work. If the UFC understands that the marketing machine can make dollars off of it, they will,” he concluded.