Ray Longo has a pretty good handle on what type of skills Merab Dvalishvili brings to the table.
Before Dvalishvili moved his training to Las Vegas, he worked with the Serra-Longo Fight Team in New York. As Dvalishvili prepares to challenge Sean O’Malley for the bantamweight crown in the UFC 306 main event on Saturday at The Sphere in Las Vegas, Longo offered some insight into what “The Machine” will have to do in order to leave with a title belt in his possession.
“He’s going to have to eat some punches to win this fight – period,” Longo said on “The Anik & Florian Podcast.” (transcription via MMAjunkie.com)
“O’Malley is a sharpshooter. If you go in there thinking you’re not going to get hit or you’re just going to do this or do that, I think that’s a huge mistake.”
UFC 306: O’Malley vs. Dvalishvili Saturday at 10 ET on ESPN+. Order Now!
While Dvalishvili is the most dangerous wrestler O’Malley has faced thus far during his promotional tenure, the Georgian standout hasn’t squared off against someone with the standup prowess of the reigning champion.
The most peril Davlishvili has faced on the feet during his current 10-bout winning streak came against Marlon Moraes at UFC 266, when he was dropped in the opening stanza. It remains the only knockdown Dvalishvili has suffered during his UFC career to date.
Because of that experience, Long believes Dvalishvil will be aware of the challenges O’Malley presents.
“If I tell you how many times I worked on getting underneath the left hook with him [before the Moraes fight] – and that’s exactly the punch he got hit with. “I said, ‘You’re going to have to walk through fire at some point in this fight.’ That’s exactly what he did. It’s going to be kind of the same thing. Merab knows what he’s up against,” Longo said.
“I think O’Malley is really good. I don’t think O’Malley has ever faced anybody with the pressure of Merab, and I don’t think Merab’s fought anybody with the length and the accuracy and the power of O’Malley.”
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