Sean O'Malley and Merab Dvalishvili seemingly discuss coach Tim Welch during heated first UFC 306 faceoff: "He'll kill you"
'Sugar' Sean O'Malley and Merab Dvalishvili engaged in a verbal altercation, seemingly due to their differences of opinion regarding MMA coach Tim Welch. For his part, O'Malley suggested that Welch would kill Dvalishvili in a potential fight.
For years, O'Malley has trained under the tutelage of Welch (14-6 MMA), an American MMA fighter and coach. Welch last fought in a welterweight bout, losing via second-round submission against Dejan Kajic at ICF 28 (Aug. 2017). He hasn't competed since but is a prominent MMA trainer, best known for being O'Malley's head coach.
Additionally, O'Malley and Welch create social media content together, which includes hosting the Timbo SugarShow podcast together. While Welch hasn't fought in the world's premier MMA organization (UFC), his student O'Malley has.
O'Malley is the reigning UFC bantamweight champion and will defend his title against Georgia's Dvalishvili. Their fight will headline the 'Riyadh Season Noche UFC' (UFC 306) event, which will take place at the Las Vegas Sphere on Sept. 14, 2024.
The event will have a Mexican Independence Day theme and feature multiple top-tier fighters of Mexican descent, including UFC women's flyweight champion Alexa Grasso. She's set to put her title on the line against former champion Valentina Shevchenko in their trilogy matchup on the UFC 306 card.
The UFC recently shot some promotional content for the much-awaited event, during which a verbal altercation took place between Sean O'Malley and Merab Dvalishvili. They seemed to disagree over whether Dvalishvili challenged Tim Welch or the latter started feuding with him.
With Grasso appearing amused in the background, O'Malley and Dvalishvili traded barbs before being separated by security personnel. 'Sugar' stated:
"If you have a problem with him [Welch], you can take it up with him. He'll fight you, if that's what you want. He's not ..."
"You said you were going to fight him. He didn't say he wanted to fight you. I dare you to do it. I think you should. After the fight, you should ... You should definitely try that ... You want to die. Is that what you're saying? He'll kill you. There's a reason there's weight classes, is there not? You're the one that wants to fight him."
Check out their conversation below:
When 'Sugar' Sean O'Malley shared a heartwarming moment with coach Tim Welch
In February 2023, Sean O'Malley took to his official YouTube channel a video of himself and his longtime friend-cum-coach Tim Welch reacting to footage of the first time they trained together. They implied that Welch had been coaching him for almost a decade, likely for around seven or eight years.
'Sugar' recounted that he was an amateur MMA fighter at the time, whereas Welch had already been competing in the professional MMA realm. Sean O'Malley emphasized that, unlike other coaches, Welch didn't attempt to make him change his fighting style. He praised his coach for letting him be himself and evolve with his own style.
In their heartwarming conversation, the Montana-born Arizona resident expressed his respect for Welch and said:
"You were working with what I had... Now, we're the best in the f**king world."
Check out Sean O'Malley's comments below (0:00-1:00):