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Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Merab Dvalishvili's coach doesn't think Sean O'Malley deserved an immediate rematch
The bantamweight title changed hands at UFC 306 last September. Merab Dvalishvili dethroned Sean O'Malley at The Sphere in Las Vegas to capture the 135-pound championship. The two will rematch in the UFC 316 main event on June 7 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Advertisement Following their first fight, O'Malley went into surgery while Dvalishvili defended his title for the first time. O'Malley hasn't fought since the UFC 306 loss, and Dvalishvili's coach, John Wood, doesn't think O'Malley deserves an immediate rematch. "I believe, first and foremost, I'll say it time and time again, the UFC knows what they're doing. They are way smarter than any of us when it comes to the business of it, so I never knock the on who deserves, or who should, who should this," Wood said during an interview with Submission Radio. "When it comes to making those decisions, they make the best decisions. Sometimes it's not the decisions we want as fans, or fighters and coaches and teams, but it is what it is," Wood continued. "Do I personally think he should have had to fought somebody else? Yes. I do in the realm of the rankings a who's there. I think it would have been a bigger buildup." Advertisement Related: Former UFC champion Sean O'Malley explains why he stopped smoking weed While Wood would have liked for O'Malley to fight his way back to a title bout, he also recognizes the star power of the former titleholder. "O'Malley has a huge fanbase, though," Wood said. "He has star power. I don't know how much that plays into this fight anymore. But I would have liked to have seen him maybe fight [Petr] Yan again and had to fight a true contender or something to get back to the title. But again, that's not our decision. "My personal opinion, unless you've defended that belt multiple times and you've become a guy like [Valentina] Shevchenko, [Zhang] Weili, or even [Alex] Pereira, or [Israel] Adesanya. These guys that defended those belts, like Jon Jones. If you lose that belt, I believe you've been at the top for so long that maybe it was an off night and you have the chance to get that belt back," Dvalishvili's coach continued. "That's my opinion. Getting those instant rematches are for somebody who has defended multiple, multiple times and is basically a legend in the sport. I don't think that's the case here."
USA Today
26-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Merab Dvalishvili's coach dismisses concern over toe injury heading into UFC 316
Merab Dvalishvili's coach dismisses concern over toe injury heading into UFC 316 John Wood downplays bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili's toe injury ahead of his UFC 316 title defense. Dvalishvili (19-4 MMA, 12-2 UFC), who runs things back with Sean O'Malley (18-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) in the June 7 main event from Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., shared a video on Instagram Stories (h/t @ showing off a bruised and swollen pinky toe, which raised speculation that it may be broken. While Dvalishvili's head coach Wood thinks it's likely broken, he remains unconcerned. "He loves to rile everybody up," Wood told Submission Radio. "The thing is, as much as people think, 'Oh, that's stupid' or this or that, he would never post something that was going to take him out of a fight. So guys, if he's posting something, it's really not that bad, and it's not going to bother him that bad. "I'm sure he broke his toe, but you don't understand. Every camp and every fighter, even O'Malley says it: Everybody is banged up. There's a level of injuries you go into fights with. That's the way it is. That's the way it's going to be, and that's the way it always is. It's just one of those things that obviously, Merab likes to post about a little more than everybody else. It's all right, though. He's all good." Dvalishvili is no stranger to showing off his pre-fight struggles. Around three weeks prior to his first fight with O'Malley at UFC 306, Dvalishvili suffered a cut which required multiple stitches, resulting in UFC CEO Dana White calling him "next-level stupid." "That's nothing compared to some of the things we've had going into a lot of the fights," Wood said. "You've heard a lot about how he was banged up for Umar (Nurmagomedov), but there's a lot of things he doesn't talk about. He's had some massive injuries going into some massive fights before, and been banged up. Broken ribs and backs, and things that are just completely out of whack, but that's just the way it goes. He's going go show up and do his job no matter what."
USA Today
26-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Beneil Dariush warns Ilia Topuria: Charles Oliveira is 'really dangerous against boxers'
Beneil Dariush warns Ilia Topuria: Charles Oliveira is 'really dangerous against boxers' Beneil Dariush thinks Charles Oliveira is being heavily underestimated against Ilia Topuria at UFC 317. Oliveira (35-10 MMA, 23-10 UFC) meets Topuria (16-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) for the vacant lightweight title in the June 28 headliner at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+). Oliveira is being counted out by oddsmakers, pundits, and fellow fighters, but Dariush points out an aspect of Oliveira's game that could pose more problems for Topuria than many think. "I think it's a lot closer than people think," Dariush told Submission Radio. "I think Charles is really tough. He's got a good chin, he's got good jiu-jitsu, he's got great striking, and what's going to be difficult for Ilia is Charles' striking is, I think, really dangerous against good boxers. The way he throws his knees, the way he clinches – and those are things you can do to slow down Ilia. "Because, for example, a good boxer will dip low to fake or feint to get in on the inside, and that's times where Charles will just raise his knee and mess with your timing or throw a kick – things like that. So I think the fight's a lot closer. I understand why people are favoring Ilia, and I think if you had to ask me, I probably would favor him as well, but I don't think it's going to be like, 'Oh, he's going to walk through Charles' like everybody thinks." Oliveira is the UFC's all-time leader in both finishes and submission wins. However, on the flip side, Dariush sees Topuria's ground game also being a threat. "Charles is always dangerous," Dariush said. "Here's what I would say: I know Ilia's jiu-jitsu is very good because when he fought Ryan Hall, he did really well. Even if the fight was on the ground or he was throwing ground and pound, he did fine. The fact that he was able to stuff Bryce (Mitchell)'s takedowns and eventually turn it around, and then when he was on top, he was able to just get into positions really quickly. "Bryce has good jiu-jitsu. I don't care what people say – the guy can grapple. You can not be a fan of his, but you can't say he's not a good grappler. He's a good grappler. I feel like he fought other grapplers, and he just shuts them down. I think Ilia's grappling is very, very good, and if anything, it could be considered underrated." Dariush (22-6-1 MMA, 16-6-1 UFC) competes on the same card as Topuria vs. Oliveira when he takes on Renato Moicano (20-6-1 MMA, 12-6 UFC) on the UFC 317 main card.
USA Today
23-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Lerone Murphy against Yair Rodriguez's potential UFC title shot: 'That would be terrible'
Lerone Murphy against Yair Rodriguez's potential UFC title shot: 'That would be terrible' Top contender Lerone Murphy can't stomach the idea of Yair Rodriguez being next up for the UFC featherweight championship. Murphy, an undefeated title contender at 145 pounds, thinks it would be a bad call to put Rodriguez in a rematch with champion Alexander Volkanovski, who's in need of a challenger. Aside from Rodriguez campaigning for the title shot, some have made the argument that he could indeed be next, given this year's Noche UFC event is scheduled to go down in Guadalajara, Mexico. "El Pantera," being a star and a pioneer for Mexican MMA, could be a solid candidate to headline the event on Sept. 13. Murphy sees Rodriguez as undeserving of the opportunity and wouldn't like to see that happening. "That would be terrible for the division, for the sport, because realistically – not to say Yair is not a good fighter – but he's lost about three or four title shots," Murphy told Submission Radio. "He's only had one win in three fights, and it was against a guy that's unranked. "It wouldn't make sense. Personally, me being in the division, I would want a shot, but I know I probably need one more, as well, but I wouldn't be against Mosvar getting the shot. I believe out of everybody, if someone is going to get a shot, it would be Movsar (Evloev) or myself. We're the both undefeated fighters, fresh fighters, never challenged for the title, and never fought Volkanovksi. You can't put Yair back in there." Rodriguez has had one crack at the UFC featherweight belt. That opportunity came in 2023 when he collided with Volkanovski in a title-unification bout, as Rodriguez held the interim belt. He lost the fight by third-round TKO. Since then, he was submitted by Brian Ortega in 2024 and last month bounced back with a unanimous decision win over former Bellator champion Patricio Freire. Meanwhile, both Movsar Evloev and Murphy remain undefeated. Evloev is coming off a decision win over Aljamain Sterling, and Murphy a decision win over Josh Emmett. Murphy doesn't think much has changed since Rodriguez and Volkanovski fought in 2023. He expects a similar outcome should the two get matched up again, reinforcing his stance on the title picture. "It wasn't close. It wasn't close," Murphy said regarding the potential rematch. "Who wants to see that fight again? What's really going to change? Nothing is going to change in that fight."
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Focus On Finishing Fights!'
Jack Della Maddalena is a man of few words, but his coaches have no problem firing back at some of the many welterweight contenders looking to goad him into a fight. Della Maddalena spent UFC 315 fight week avoiding strategically placed bags of M&Ms placed by backup fighter Ian Machado Garry in a playful attempt to derail his Belal Muhammad fight weigh-in. That was all in good fun, but his coach Ben Vickers did respond to comments from 'The Future' declaring he'd 'box the ears' off the new Australian champ. Advertisement 'We're not in this business to be celebrities,' Vickers told Submission Radio. 'And as Jack said in his post-fight speech, we just want to win fights and be the best. Jack loves scrapping, Jack loves training. We all love the sport and the process. [Garry] can carry on doing his thing.' 'He should concentrate more on finishing fights, especially fights that he's dominating. He needs to stop flying around the world trying to be a celebrity, and get in the gym and get some power and figure out how to finish fights.' 'His time would be better spent doing that than trying to wind Jack up,' Vickers concluded. 'You think Jack's going to bite on any of that stuff? He doesn't care, man. He's the most chilled-out dude in the world. So yeah, it's all just a bit silly, really.' Advertisement There's plenty of time for more pressure to build on a potential Della Maddalena vs. Machado Garry fight. Jack is set to fight former lightweight champion Islam Makhachev sometime later this year, and then Garry will have to fend off the title aspirations of other contenders like Sean Brady and Shavkat Rakhmonov. Ian Machado Garry does put his money where his mouth is, though, when it comes to fighting. If he has the opportunity to take more fights to lock in the position of No. 1 contender, he'll take it. That's more than we can say for a lot of other welterweights. More from
