It is now time for the main event review of O’Malley v Dvalishvili.
Round 1: You see early O’Malley attack the body fairly regularly. It seems his plan was to attack the body in the hope of tiring Merab from his constant pressure. Merab shoots his first takedown and gets it with two minutes left of the round. Merab throws constant punches and knees against the cage, but O’Malley is able to get back up and to striking after about 40 seconds. Merab throws a flurry of strikes, which he uses to go for another takedown, which he gets before O’Malley scrambles, and then Merab goes for a guillotine. The round started well for O’Malley with some nice investment to the body, but Merab took over the round once he got the takedown, and from then on, he was the aggressor and doing the damage. 10-9 Merab after the first.
Round 2: The second round starts similar to the first, with O’Malley working the body, but Merab continues to pressure O’Malley near the fence and shoots his takedown and gets it. Merab continues his pressure on the ground with constant strikes. Merab ends the round, going for another guillotine, but gives it up before the bell and walks off. O’Malley goes to strike while Merab is walking away before the bell. Another round of O’Malley early doing well, but once Merab finds his opening, he takes over. 10-9 Merab 20-18 after two.
Round 3: O’Malley ends the round well but the rest of the round is Merab controlling. Once he finds his takedown its hard to beat him as he is a constant pressure machine. Merab had some nice leg kicks in the middle of the round. A better round for O’Malley but not enough to win the round for me. 10-9 Merab but 30-27 overall.
Round 4: Merab times a really nice takedown and has O’Malley on the ground near the centre of the cage. O’Malley throws a good elbow from the back and seems to cut Merab. Merab controls the rest of the round with his constant control and strikes. O’Malley just can’t find the space to try to escape. Another 10-9 Merab and 40-36 overall. It’s very clear O’Malley’s only chance is a finish.
Round 5: Merab sets up a beautiful takedown with the overhand as the distraction to grab the single leg and move to a double. O’Malley throws a front kick to the body, which stings Merab and gets a visible reaction from him. O’Malley starts to do well once he goes back to the body and ends the round well until Merab gets one more takedown. Definitely the most competitive round to score. I give it 10-9 to O’Malley because he did the visible damage.
FINAL SCORING: 49-46 Merab Dvalishvili
OVERALL THOUGHTS: WOW, what a performance from Merab. Even when you know what his game plan is, he is nearly impossible to stop. The scary thing about this performance is that I feel he has another level he could’ve gone to, but he found success and didn’t need to turn it up. O’Malley started well when going to the body but just completely stopped once he kept getting taken down. He found it again late in the last round, which you feel he will be annoyed about. Next, you’d imagine, will be Merab v Umar, which will be interesting to see how both of their wrestling interact. O’Malley may rematch Petr Yan or fight Deiveson Figueiredo.
