Former UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra did not hold back in his criticism of Tim Welch’s cornering during Sean O’Malley’s UFC 306 loss to Merab Dvalishvili. O’Malley, the reigning UFC bantamweight champion at the time, was outclassed by Dvalishvili’s constant grappling and pressure. That led to a decision victory for the Georgian fighter. The renowned coach argued that O’Malley’s coach mishandled the situation and failed to offer the right advice to help O’Malley regain control of the fight.
Matt Serra’s main critique was focused on Tim Welch’s lack of assertiveness when it became clear that Sean O’Malley was losing. On the UFC Unfiltered podcast, Serra stated that Welch was too soft with his fighter, offering praise like “good round” when O’Malley was clearly down on the scorecards.
He was afraid that he did not know how to handle his guy [with] that many rounds. And I thought his f*cking corner work was sh*t.
Matt Serra on UFC Unfiltered
Serra expressed that, in moments like this, a coach needs to be more aggressive and direct. One should tell the fighter they are losing and need to make significant changes in their approach. He said, “You’ve got to get in his a*s,” pointing out that Welch appeared to be more concerned about sparing O’Malley’s feelings than pushing him to fight with more urgency.
Serra’s harsh assessment suggested that Welch was “exposed” as lacking the ability to guide his fighter through adversity. Adding to the drama, it was later revealed that O’Malley had been dealing with a torn labrum in the lead-up to the fight. However, that did not affect O’Malley’s performance according to him.
Sean O’Malley’s coach addresses controversial corner advice at UFC 306
O’Malley needed a decisive finish to retain his bantamweight title against Merab Dvalishvili. Welch was overheard telling O’Malley, “You’re almost done with this.”
In response to the backlash, Welch clarified in an interview with ESPN’s Brett Okamoto that his advice was misunderstood. He explained that he intended to keep O’Malley calm and confident. Not to suggest that the fight was already in the bag.
I just meant to say, ‘This fight is almost over. We’re almost done with this, you can clip him at any point.’ But it came out the wrong way and sounded st*pid.
Tim Welch on ESPN
Welch trained O’Malley for over 12 years. He is intimately familiar with how to motivate and communicate with him in high-stress moments. He also mentioned often forgetting that microphones are live. Welch said that not every word he says in the corner is meant for the public’s ears.
