Just weeks out from Sean O’Malley’s title rematch against Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 316, his head coach Tim Welch has made a new excuse for his UFC 306 loss.
On June 7, Sean O’Malley looks to exact revenge on Merab Dvalishvili when he attempts to reclaim his bantamweight title at UFC 316.
The Georgian utterly dominated ‘Suga’ in their first meeting at UFC 306, in what was a historic one-of-a-kind event in the Sphere.
Following the fight, news came out that O’Malley went into the fight with a torn labrum, claiming that he wasn’t able to wrestle throughout the majority of his training camp.
O’Malley’s head coach blames Sphere lighting for embarrassing loss
However, now just weeks out from their rematch at UFC 316 in Newark, O’Malley’s head coach, Tim Welch, has made a new excuse as to why ‘Suga’ lost the first clash.
With the event having taken place from the Sphere in Las Vegas, it was an utter spectacle and the UFC made it into a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Of course, the Sphere is just one huge LED screen, and prior to the event, UFC boss Dana White was questioned whether the LED lighting would distract fighters during the fights.
And now, months removed from the event, Welch has claimed that the Sphere lighting was the reason for O’Malley’s embarrassing loss.
“I rewatched the fight in slow-mo so many times. There were tons and tons of shots that barely missed by inches that would’ve completely changed the fight, and I think a lot of it had to do with The Sphere and the lighting,” Welch claimed in an interview with ESPN MMA.
“And then not only the injury, I just feel like in our lives that was supposed to happen. It really caused us to truly level up as humans, and looking back, it was really good for us,” Welch continued.
Welch makes huge claim about Merab Dvalishvili ahead of UFC 316
Despite the countless excuses that O’Malley’s team has come up with in regards to his loss, they have remained respectful of ‘The Machine’s’ skills throughout the feud.
So much so that Welch has claimed the Georgian is the greatest bantamweight fighter of all time, ranking him ahead of the likes of Dominick Cruz and several others.
“I don’t really know how you debate that Merab’s not the best of all time just look at his record, has there ever been a bantamweight who’s beat that many champions in a row, I don’t think there has. It’s pretty easy to say that Merab’s the best bantamweight ever,” Welch admitted.
If ‘Suga’ successfully reclaims his 135lb title at UFC 316, there would be huge potential for a historic trilogy fight between the two.
