Rekindling his rivalry with incoming foe, Sean O’Malley as well as his head coach, Tim Welch, surging bantamweight contender, Merab Dvalishvili has hit out at the trainer – branding him a “snake” ahead of his return next month.
Dvalishvili, the current number one ranked bantamweight contender, is slated to return to action next month in the main event of Noche UFC, challenging O’Malley for the undisputed divisional crown at the Las Vegas Sphere.
In the midst of an impressive winning spree, Tbilisi native, Dvalishvili turned in a dominant unanimous decision win over former two-weight champion, Henry Cejudo at UFC 298 back in February in Anaheim, earning a well-overdue first title fight inside the Octagon.
However, ahead of the pairing, Dvalishvili and O’Malley clashed over the incumbent’s head coach, Welch – with the champion urging the challenger to take his issues with the trainer up with him rather than himself ahead of Noche UFC.
Merab Dvalishvili continues his spat with head coach, Tim Welch
And reigniting their rivalry ahead of the matchup, Dvalishvili called Welch a “snake” of a person – setting the stage for another spat between the two.
“I have a problem with his (Sean O’Malley’s) coach, Tim (Welch),” Merab Dvalishvili told MMA Fighting. “He was very disrespectful to me and he was doing stupid and not respectful things. Any real coach should never do that, whatever he was doing. Try do the same thing in basketball or let’s try to do the same thing in a football game. They will give you a disqualification.”
“Only in the UFC can you get out of this,” Merab Dvalishvili explained. “Coach your guy, coach your fighter. Don’t be disrespectful to the opponent. What kind of people does this? Only a snake person does this.”
Who do you think wins at Noche UFC: Sean O’Malley or Merab Dvalishvili?