Sean O'Malley opens up on grappling game, admits need for improvement after recent tests
Sean O'Malley recently stressed the need to improve his mastery in grappling.
O'Malley put on a show of his striking skills during his first title defense fight with Marlon Vera at UFC 299. But his title reign ended when he faced the current bantamweight champ, Merab Dvalishvili, at UFC 306.
'The Machine' mostly stayed out of O'Malley's striking range and used his superior ground game to take 'Sugar' down multiple times in the fight. Dvalishvili's takedown and ground control ultimately earned him a unanimous decision victory against O'Malley.
'Sugar' discussed the need to up his ground game during his appearance on the latest episode of Jake Shield's Fight Back podcast. O'Malley mentioned that he had trained with former UFC bantamweight Augusto 'Tanquinho' Mendes for his fight against Dvalishvili but still fell short of victory.
"What su*ks is [that], I know I can grapple like a motherf***er, [still] ahh, [I lost] that last fight [with Dvalishvili]. And people come to me like, 'Hey, let me know if I can help you with wrestling'. I can definitely improve my wrestling. I'm not denying that.
"But we [got] so many good guys in the gym that can f**k me up in wrestling and grappling that I don't need to go anywhere. I just need to be healthy. I just need to [keep] my body able to grapple with these guys."
Check out Sean O'Malley's words below (26:49):
Sean O'Malley wants to continue his habit of avenging his losses
Sean O'Malley exacted retribution for his first UFC defeat with a victory over Marlon Vera at UFC 299. His comments during his appearance on the latest episode of Jake Shields's podcast implied that he wanted to repeat the same for his second unconquered rival, Merab Dvalishvili.
'The Machine' is currently preparing for his upcoming encounter against Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311. But O'Malley has already fixed his eyes on avenging his loss against Dvalishvili:
"It's a title fight, and it's in 30 days. And Umar supposedly f**king fractured his arm, supposedly he's pretty injured. In my mind, I want the winner, whether it's Umar [or] Merab. I'd prefer Merab. I want to get that one back [avenge my defeat] badly."
Check out Sean O'Malley's comments below (16:49):