Written by UFC Hall of Famer Matt Serra doesn’t think Sean O’Malley’s corner showed a sense of urgency at UFC 306.
O’Malley (18-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) was outgrappled in a unanimous decision loss to Merab Dvalishvili (18-4 MMA, 11-2 UFC) in last Saturday’s title-fight headliner at Sphere in Las Vegas. Heading into Round 5, O’Malley was down four rounds on one of the judges’ scorecards and 3-1 on the other two. Serra, who is one of Dvalishvili’s coaches, criticized Welch for not lighting a fire under O’Malley when he was clearly losing the fight.
“This fight exposed him as a coach because when your guy is winning and knocking people out, sure, you look like a f*cking hero,” Serra said on “UFC Unfiltered.” “When your fighter is obviously losing the fight and he starts losing rounds, Tim Welch was, like, not wanting to hurt his feelings.
“‘OK, good round.’ No, you’re losing f*cking three rounds! You’ve got to get in his ass. You’ve got to say – he was afraid that he did not know how to handle his guy on that many rounds. And I thought his f*cking cornerwork was sh*t. So, he exposed himself. You (Dvalishvili) took care of business, and Tim Welch had no answers for his fighter.”
O’Malley later revealed that he tore the labrum in his left hip 10 weeks prior to his fight with Dvalishvili. He will undergo surgery on Oct. 3.
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 306.