UFC Fight Night: Yan vs. Dvilashvili headlines massive bantamweight battle between former champions Petr Yan and ranked number 3 merab dvilashvili,
Top bantamweight contender Sean O’Malley gives his breakdown of the matchup and his prediction for the upcoming bout his youtube channel,
“I think what’s so interesting about this fight is that both these guys lost jose aldobut they both beat him in very different ways,” O’Malley said. Yan beat Aldo in the fifth. Kind of broke him down, took him out with the technique and took him out. He finished the job. Done, finished him off.194 critical strikes against Aldo.
“Merab beat Aldo in a very different way. He beat him with 57 punches. It was also a three round fight. Caught him. Didn’t do much. it’s hard to say. Many of Marab’s fights other than Marlon Moraes go like this. That fight was sick.
Given the five-round match between Yan and Dvilashvili, O’Malley considers Yan the better fighter all-around, but that doesn’t always equate to a win.
“It’s going to be interesting. I don’t know if he (Yan) would be able to do that much damage to Merab if Merab was with him the whole time,” O’Malley said. “I think we were surprised by Petr’s first fight with Aljo (aljamen sterling), and Elzo was out in the second round and was able to take him down, that his back.
“The thinking is, Aljo thinks about wrestling for jiu-jitsu. Merab thinks about wrestling, wrestling, wrestling,” O’Malley continued. “Will he be able to do it against Petr Yan? I don’t know That’s very exciting and we have to find out. I think Petr is the better mixed martial artist overall. Merab, that’s great. He is great, but I think Merab has less tools, but with the tools he has, he can definitely get him this win.”
Sean O’Malley’s Official Yann vs. Dvilashvili Prediction
“My official prediction, I’m taking Petr Yan in the fifth round. I think it’s going to be a battle,” O’Malley said. “I keep saying stuff and then I see Merab holding him up and Petr trying to get away. Overall I’m taking Petr Yan a fifth-round TKO.
“Petr is one of my favorite guys to watch fight. Obviously I have a close fight with him myself. Close.”