In a bizarre start to the UFC 306 main event last September, Merab Dvalishvili momentarily hit pause on the action to yell and point at Sean O’Malley’s corner. The unexpected outburst caused a brief stir in the octagon, prompting referee Herb Dean to step in and halt the action. He even issued a warning to Merab to keep his focus on the fight in front of him. In a corner cam footage released by the UFC on YouTube, coach Tim Welch was seen mocking the title challenger with a condescending jab—“Meraby, you might need to be patient, bud.” The comment, clearly intended to rattle Dvalishvili, came off as a calculated attempt to throw him off his game early in the fight. But wait, Welch has something to worry about this time.
After winning the belt, ‘The Machine’ during the post-fight press conference pointed out what exactly had happened. He said, “I was in there and I’m fighting, I’m a professional fighter so I am focused [on the fight], and that never happened to me [before], I never pay attention to other corner, but Tim’s voice was very familiar because he was doing the same thing to Aljamain.” Well, it seems the champion and his team have learned their lesson from the last encounter. This time, they are not only prepared to tackle the threat of ‘Suga’ inside the Octagon, but also out of it.
John Wood, the coach of Dvalishvili, during a conversation with MMA fighting, pointed out what exactly they will be doing differently this time around. Red Corner MMA took to their X account to share a clip of the conversation. Wood, during the interview, said, “I like Tim personally. I don’t take any offense to it. Do I think it’s stupid? Absolutely. But you know, I guess that maybe they think that it worked for the Aljo fight. So it’s something we’re gonna keep on doing. Then go ahead, but we will talk to the referees about it. But I don’t think it’s gonna be a problem in any way, shape, or form.”
Merab Dvalishvili’s coach plans to talk to the referees, as Tim Welch distracts opponents by yelling at them.
“Tim’s a good coach, I like Tim personally. Do I think it’s stupid? Absolutely. I guess maybe they think it worked for the Aljo fight, so it’s something we’re gonna… pic.twitter.com/AoAZ7mcMWk
— Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA) May 19, 2025
Despite trying his best to distract Merab, Sean O’Malley and his team failed to do so. ‘The Machine’ came out all guns blazing and dominated the fight. However, it was later revealed that ‘Suga’ was not a hundred percent fit in the clash. He had a torn labrum in his left hip, which hampered his movement inside the Octagon. But the former champion is back, and fans feel a hundred percent fit, O’Malley will be a tough ask for Dvalisvili. Well, this is what former UFC fighter Chael Sonnen feels.
Chael Sonnen has high hopes for Sean O’Malley on his UFC 316 return
Sean O’Malley has confidently claimed that he’ll be “70% better” than the last time he entered the Octagon. A bold statement that’s stirred both excitement and skepticism ahead of his rematch with the relentless Georgian force. As fans continue to dissect what went wrong in his previous outing, UFC icon Chael Sonnen weighed in with his own take. According to Sonnen, it wasn’t skill that failed O’Malley, but pressure—the crushing weight of being the champion, with everything to lose and little room to breathe. This time around, O’Malley returns not as the titleholder, but as the challenger—a shift that could change everything, including the result.
‘The American Gangster’ took to his YouTube channel to share his predictions with the fans. He said, “It will be a very different fight. Sean’s going to enjoy this fight a lot more. The pressures that were put on O’Malley and the way that fight came around was razor-thin. But, everything to lose was on O’Malley, everything was expected of him. If Sean is not the sport’s biggest star, if he’s not, he might be! He has two numbers from two gates, last year to support that he in fact is! O’Malley is not a contender, you can’t just put him in the contender’s match.” Sonnen also made a strong case for why Sean O’Malley has earned his shot at redemption. The former bantamweight champ isn’t just a flashy striker—he’s a major draw.
His star power helped push both UFC 299 and UFC 306 into the top ten highest-grossing events in the promotion’s history. Can he turn the tables and win back the title at UFC 316? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
The post UFC 316 Referees Put on Alert as Team Merab Dvalishvili Warns Sean O’Malley & Tim Welch of Using Cheap Tactics appeared first on EssentiallySports.
