Matt Serra was not impressed with Tim Welch’s coaching performance.
Was that reference too soon? No? Not at all? Okay, good. I didn’t think so.
Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight champion and Hall of Famer, Serra, knows a thing or two about coaching. The Serra-Longo fight team has been one of the more underrated over the years, producing several unheralded champions. The latest to join the mix is Georgia’s “Machine,” Merab Dvalishvili, who dethroned the now-former Bantamweight kingpin, Sean O’Malley, via a unanimous decision at UFC 306 this past weekend (Sept. 14, 2024).
When assessing his opposing coach’s performance, Serra thought Welch did a poor job, to put it mildly.
“This fight exposed him as a coach because when your guy is winning and knocking people out, sure, you look like a f*cking superhero,” Serra said on UFC Unfiltered (h/t MMA Fighting). “When your fighter is obviously losing the fight — and starts losing rounds — Tim Welch was, like, not wanting to hurt [O’Malley’s] feelings. ‘Okay, good round.’ No, you’re losing f*cking three rounds. You got to get in his ass. … He was afraid that he did not know how to handle his guy [with] that many rounds, and I thought his f*cking corner work was sh*t.
“So he exposed himself,” he concluded. “[Dvalishvili] took care of business and Tim Welch had no answers for his fighter.”
The rivalry between camps has been ongoing since O’Malley won the title from Aljamain Sterling via a second round technical knockout in August 2023 (watch highlights). O’Malley defended his title once, dominating Marlon “Chito” Vera throughout five rounds at UFC 299 in May 2024 (watch highlights). Of “Sugar’s” last six wins, the Vera redemption was his second of two decisions (18-2, 1 no contest overall).