Sean O’Malley Reveals Disadvantages Faced by Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili Ahead of UFC 333

Sean O'Malley thinks the trilogy matchup between Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili could go either way after learning about some details.

Sean O’Malley Reveals Disadvantages Faced by Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili Ahead of UFC 333

Sean O'Malley speaks about Petr Yan vs Merab Dvalishvili 3 (Image via UFC.com/MMA Fighting)

Former bantamweight champion, Sean O’Malley, is someone who knows Merab Dvalishvili and Petr Yan very well. Yan and Dvalishvili will face each other in a trilogy bout at UFC 333 this weekend in Abu Dhabi. Both fighters face one particular disadvantage heading into their UFC 333 title fight.

Their first fight happened in 2023 when Dvalishvili won a 50-45 decision against Yan. Meanwhile, their second fight happened last year at UFC 323 where the opposite happened. Yan defended the takedowns to disrupt Dvalishvili and secured a 49-46 decision.

Ahead of the trilogy bout, both fighters are confident about their chances to win. However, O’Malley believes that both fighters face one major disadvantage each. He listed out Yan’s back surgery in January as a major concern with his coach, Tim Welch, on his YouTube channel.

If he had surgery in January, that would be nine months later. Those surgeries take four or five months just for your body to heal. He underwent lumbar and lumbosacral spine surgery. This really changes my thought process on this fight. I thought Peter was going to go in there and dominate, but him getting surgery that close to the fight changes everything.

Sean O’Malley via his YT Channel

UFC 323 ended with Dvalishvili beaten badly whereas Yan had little to no damage on his face. Many fans felt that a trilogy bout would happen soon. However, Yan’s surgery prevented that from happening.

Back surgeries can derail the career of a fighter in MMA. After all, back strength is crucial for wrestling sequences. This is why ‘Suga Sean’ felt the surgery was a disadvantage for Yan.

Moving on to Dvalishvili, O’Malley didn’t like the Georgian fighter traveling so late to Abu Dhabi. He only arrived in the Middle East a week before UFC 333.

It’s in Abu Dhabi. I think you (Tim Welch) told me he was going out six days before the fight. When we fought Petr Yan, we went out three weeks before the fight. I’m thankful we did that because the time zone was (expletive). Petr Yan has probably been out there doing his thing, so it’s an interesting fight, man.

Sean O’Malley via his YT Channel

There is one more issue that Dvalishvili faces ahead of UFC 333. Earlier, he opted against a surgery to fix his nose problems. Facing a striker like Yan would really put his nose under trouble. As such, not having the surgery could be another disadvantage for ‘The Machine.’

Dvalishvili spoke about focusing on a smarter gameplan to defeat Yan in the trilogy bout. Last time, he chose to strike more than he usually does rather than his use his striking to set up takedowns.

The gameplan ended up becoming disastrous as Yan easily outboxed him. As such, even the bantamweight champion thinks his rival won’t strike this time.

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Petr Yan expects Merab Dvalishvili to come forward with a wrestling gameplan

In their first fight, Merab Dvalishvili used his strikes to set up takedowns and frustrate Petr Yan throughout all five rounds. That didn’t happen in the second fight as Yan defended the takedowns well and Dvalishvili kept striking with him.

Petr Yan fighting Merab Dvalishvili
Petr Yan fighting Merab Dvalishvili (Image via MMA Fighting)

For the trilogy bout, Yan and Dvalishvili will have to give their best to come out with a win. As such, Yan feels that Dvalishvili may need to approach the trilogy fight differently than how they fought at UFC 323 last December.

I’m assuming he’s gonna wrestle more. He’s gonna feint and then shoot for a takedown, he’s gonna be a wrestling machine again. I broke the machine before, now I’ll pick it apart.

Petr Yan via Full Send MMA

Trilogy fights only happen when two fighters very evenly matched. The bantamweight champion remains extremely confident in his ability to defeat Dvalishvili again. It remains to be seen who will come out on top this weekend at UFC 333.

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