Sean O'Malley's coach explains attempts to unsettle Merab Dvalishvili during Noche UFC 306 main event
Sean O'Malley's coach, Tim Welch, provided a brief explanation about what happened between him and Merab Dvalishvili.
Last night's UFC 306 main event between O'Malley and Dvalishvili started with a bizarre sequence. Once the fight started, Dvalishvili began angrily screaming about something said by O'Malley's head coach. Referee Herb Dean intervened and issued a warning to Welch for "excessive coaching."
The unexplained situation left fans searching for an answer to what Welch could have said to anger Dvalishvili. A popular X account called "Spinnin Backfist" posted the video of the sequence and added the following caption:
"the people need to know what Sean’s corner said for Merab to react like this"
Welch took to the comments section and revealed what he said:
"i said be patient merab, but congrats he fought a great fight"
Heading into UFC 306, Tim Welch and Merab Dvalishvili had already established a rivalry due to insults exchanged on social media and in interviews. Nonetheless, Dvalishvili had the last laugh, as he dominated Sean O'Malley for five rounds to become the new UFC bantamweight champion.
Watch the altercation between Welch and Dvalishvili below:
What's next for Sean O'Malley and Merab Dvalishvili?
Sean O'Malley only had one title defense before facing Merab Dvalishvili. Furthermore, there were no questions that Dvalishvili had won the fight, making it difficult for O'Malley to argue for an immediate rematch.
Dvalishvili's first bantamweight title defense is expected to be against number two-ranked Umar Nurmagomedov. The 28-year-old contender holds a promotional record of 6-0, including an impressive unanimous decision win against Cory Sandhagen last time out. Nurmagomedov was also in attendance at UFC 306.
As for O'Malley, he will likely need another win before fighting to regain his bantamweight throne. Fans have already begun calling for a must-see striking matchup between him and Sandhagen, which has long been fantasized.
O'Malley was also called out by number three-ranked Petr Yan. The former UFC bantamweight champions first fought in October 2022, with 'Sugar' winning a controversial unanimous decision.
Yan recently ended a three-fight skid by taking out Song Yadong in an entertaining unanimous decision.