Sean O’Malley and Merab Dvalishvili clashed at UFC 306. The fight went the distance and O’Malley lost his bantamweight title to the Georgian via unanimous decision. But according to longtime coach Tim Welch, it is not the end of the world for Team O’Malley. Here is what happened:
Sean O’Malley‘s head coach Tim Welch recently sat down to give his statement on the fight. Talking about it on his YouTube channel, Welch talked about the upside of such losses. He believes it provides fighters with the opportunity to analyze what went wrong and improve themselves.
I truly do believe, especially for Sean. The way he is, the type of mentality he has. It’s just gonna level him up even more. Get back to it. Back to more jiu-jitsu, back to more wrestling and finding more ways to improve.
Tim Welch on his YouTube channel
While O’Malley has shown grappling proficiency in past fights, defending against Dvalishvili’s consistent takedowns and maintaining control is a different challenge. The Georgian’s timing and tenacity with takedown attempts repeatedly disrupted O’Malley’s rhythm, preventing him from establishing any meaningful grappling exchanges.
Even with a brown belt, O’Malley was often put in defensive positions where he could not capitalize on his BJJ skills. Dvalishvili’s control on the ground and ability to constantly chain wrestling techniques left O’Malley reacting rather than attacking back. This ultimately resulted in him losing his bantamweight title by unanimous decision.
Tim Welch says ‘life is good’ after Sean O’Malley’s title loss to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306
Sean O’Malley did not shy away from socializing and enjoying himself despite the defeat. Shortly after the fight, O’Malley was seen partying in Las Vegas. He took to social media to apologize to his fans but maintained his upbeat attitude, while acknowledging the tough loss.
Tim Welch on Sean O’Malley’s loss to Merab Dvalishvili (Image via X)His coach Tim Welch expressed a similar sentiment. Talking about it on his YouTube channel, O’Malley’s coach spoke that although disappointing, the loss was not the worst thing that could have happened. His star fighter did not get knocked out or concussed. Welch congratulated Dvalishvili and shared his plans to “get back to the drawing board” and make the necessary improvements.
Life is good. Our families are healthy and we’re still living the dream. So its hard to just sit there an be like, ‘Oh my God. Life it just sucks now.’ It doesn’t.
Tim Welch continued
O’Malley has mentioned that he plans to take an extended break from fighting to recover, notably from a torn labrum injury he sustained before the fight. He is scheduled to undergo surgery in October, thus it is unclear when he will make his comeback.
