UFC: Ex-BW Champ Details Why Sean O’Malley Has Upper Hand in Merab Dvalishvili Fight

"O'Malley has the advantage," Dominick Cruz weighs-in on the next bantamweight title fight.

Craig Kidwell-USA TODAY Sports

From old school to new school, Dominick Cruz favors Sean O'Malley to remain UFC Bantamweight Champion.

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The 29 year-old O'Malley is targeted to defend his title for a second time this year when he meets a very game #1 contender in Merab Dvalishvili. It's a striker vs. grappler matchup of the highest order, with the bantamweights yet to set a date for the highly-anticipated title fight.

"It's A Good Stylistic Matchup For O'Malley"

While others are quick to assume Dvalishvili's wrestling credentials and pressure will cancel out O'Malley's world-class striking skills, two-time bantamweight champion and UFC commentator Cruz believes there is much more than meets the eye for "Suga" in this stylistic matchup.

"O'Malley has the advantage," Cruz said on the Anik & Florian Podcast. "You saw Henry [Cejudo] was able to kind of hurt Dvalishvili a little bit and force the wrestling. So, O'Malley's going to hit him. We're all going to get hit. If you're going in there expecting, 'I'm not going to get hit once. I'm just going to finish him in a minute...' You could, yeah, but it's quite an expectation for yourself, so I expect he's going to get hit."

Merab Dvalishvili vs. Henry Cejudo at UFC 298. / Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

"The question is, how is [Dvalishvili] going to close the distance?" Cruz continued. "That's why this is a good fight for O'Malley, is the distance and the stance switches and the footwork. It's a good style matchup, like for O'Malley, stylistically. You got a short guy who wants to wrestle, and we know for a fact doesn't want to stand up. Can he stand up? Yes, but it's not what he wants to do. It's not where he's comfortable. So, the fight starts standing. That's where I see - it's a good stylistic matchup for O'Malley."

Dominick Cruz has frustrated many fighters with his unorthodox footwork and striking style, and he thinks O'Malley and his similar bag of tricks will pose problems for Dvalishvili on the feet.

Former UFC Champion Dominick Cruz. / Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

O'Malley's as good of a counter-striker as they come, with the American winning the title by TKO over then-champ (and Dvalishvili's teammate) Aljamain Sterling last August at UFC 292. O'Malley followed it up with a masterclass performance in March, piecing up "Chito" Vera across five rounds to retain the title at UFC 299.

Dvalishvili's Concerning Game-Plan

Having his own rather obvious keys to victory in the grappling department, cardio machine Dvalishvili has boldly claimed that he would choose to stand and trade with O'Malley in their title fight to prove how good his striking really is... potentially risking it all in the biggest fight of his life.

UFC News: Merab Dvalishvili Reveals Shocking Game Plan to Dethrone Sean O’Malley

Only time will tell if those are Merab Dvalishvili's true intentions or just a bold-faced lie whenever he steps into the Octagon with UFC Champion Sean O'Malley.

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