Sean O'Malley and coach addresses Merab Dvalishvili's alleged toe injury ahead of UFC 316: "The guy would fight with a broken leg"
Sean O'Malley and his coach recently shared their thoughts on Merab Dvalishvili's alleged toe injury ahead of their rematch at UFC 316. O'Malley wasn't too worried about the possibility of Dvalishvili pulling out and highlighted his mentality toward fighting.
In the weeks leading up to their highly anticipated rematch, a video circulated of Dvalishvili showing his toe, which appeared to be broken. Despite the concern that the rematch would be in jeopardy, 'The Machine' has continued training and remains in the fight on Saturday.
In the latest episode of his TIMBOSUGARSHOW, O'Malley mentioned that he initially thought Dvalishvili's toe injury was a bad one, but wasn't too concerned after it appeared to be fine days later. He said:
"The way his toe looked [in] the first video I saw... I was like, 'Damn, that's fu**ing bad'. Then, like two days later, they were doing an interview and they showed his toe and it looked completely normal. So, I didn't know if it was his toe or what the hell was actually happening."
O'Malley's coach Tim Welch also dismissed the idea of Dvalishvili not competing by mentioning that the Georgian is resilient and will continue to fight even if he is injured. He said:
"Even with that toe, it doesn't matter with that guy. We're going to see the best Merab that there's ever been Saturday night... A toe is not gonna affect that guy... It's 25 minutes with him and the guy would fight with a broken leg."
Check out Sean O'Malley and Tim Welch's comments below (11:27)
Sean O'Malley says Merab Dvalishvili's confidence is at an all-time high
Sean O'Malley also believes Merab Dvalishvili holds a strong confidence following his recent performances.
In the aforementioned episode, O'Malley praised Dvalishvili for securing wins over himself and Umar Nurmagomedov. He said:
"[Dvalishvili is] coming off his best performance ever against one of the most dangerous guys he's ever fought. So it's like, this dude's in his prime, confident as ever, going into a rematch where he beat me." [12:05]
Check out the UFC's post hyping up Merab Dvalishvili vs. Sean O'Malley 2 below: