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Sean O’Malley’s Loss to Merab Dvalishvili Comes with a ‘Silver Lining’

Sean O'Malley's Loss to Merab Dvalishvili Comes with a 'Silver Lining' Jon Anik sees a silver lining in Sean O’Malley’s loss to Merab Dvalishvili. Returning to the Octagon at UFC…

Jon Anik sees a silver lining in Sean O’Malley’s loss to Merab Dvalishvili.

Returning to the Octagon at UFC 306 for his second title defense of 2024, ‘Sugar’ delivered a lackluster showing that saw his explosive offense stifled by the grapple-heavyweight attack of Dvalishvili through five rounds. In the end, ‘The Machine’ saw his hand raised, taking the bantamweight title back home to Georgia via a dominant unanimous decision.

In the aftermath, O’Malley revealed that he suffered a torn labrum 10 weeks out from fight night, though he never disclosed the injury to the promotion. Scheduled to undergo surgery in early October, O’Malley is expected to be out of action for 6-8 months at a minimum.

Speaking with MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck, the UFC’s chief play-by-play man offered his interesting take on O’Malley’s loss, suggesting that it could be for the best on the promotion’s side of things.

Sean O'Malley's Loss to Merab Dvalishvili Comes with a 'Silver Lining' 3

“I think the good news if you’re looking for a silver lining for the UFC is that had Sean won this fight, maybe this hip injury would have had to be repaired anyway, right?” Anik said. “And then you wonder if you need an interim champion. So I think right now, your new champion is pretty durable and willing to take on all challengers.

And a murderers’ row, of course, awaits Sean O’Malley with the Cory Sandhagens of all the world and everybody else. There are a lot of dream-type matchups at ’35 for fight fans, right? Even Sean O’Malley and Dominick Cruz makes some semblance of sense right now. So there’s a lot of different fights at ’35 that make a lot of sense” (h/t MMA News).

Merab vs. Umar Up next as Sean O’Malley takes time to heal up

Though it’ll be a while until we see O’Malley back inside the Octagon, Merab Dvalishvili is already staring down the barrel of his first title defense.

All signs currently point toward ‘The Machine’ putting his newly-won bantamweight belt on the line against No. 2 ranked contender Umar Nurmagomedov not long after our calendars flip over to 2025 — assuming the Dagestani is willing to wait that long.

UFC Commentator Highlights Julianna Peña’s Key Quality That Will Serve Her Well At UFC 307

Julianna Peña is set to return at UFC 307 after being away from competition for nearly two years. The last time that she stepped inside the Octagon, it was as the women’s bantamweight champion. Though she came up short on that night in a rematch with Amanda Nunes at UFC 277, her comeback will see […]

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Julianna Peña is set to return at UFC 307 after being away from competition for nearly two years.

The last time that she stepped inside the Octagon, it was as the women’s bantamweight champion.

Though she came up short on that night in a rematch with Amanda Nunes at UFC 277, her comeback will see her look to reclaim the gold on October 5.

To do so, Peña will need to answer some questions about whether her time away and injuries will play a factor in her attempt to dethrone Raquel Pennington in Salt Lake City.

Jon Anik Says That Juliana Peña’s Meanness Will Help Her Overcome Ring Rust At UFC 307

UFC commentator Jon Anik expressed in a recent interview with Middle Easy that he isn’t concerned about Peña’s time away from the Octagon heading into this fight.

Though he did say that ring rust can be a factor depending on the fighter in question, he believes that the challenger is not someone that it will phase.

Anik referenced how if you listen to how the former champion’s coaches and teammates speak about her, they will immediately make reference to her aggressive mindset when she’s in the cage.

With this in mind, he doesn’t think that we will see anything less than the very best that Peña has to offer, come October 5.

“It’s amazing to listen to Juliana Peña’s coaches, to a man, talk about her relative meanness and nastiness. They can’t even get to the skills because Rick Little and Mike Valley both are just like dude, meanest man or woman in the gym, you know what I mean? So I don’t worry about her, I just think she’s sort of one of these ultimate competitors. The layoffs not ideal, the injury history is not ideal and Raquel Pennington just knows how to win fights.”

Continue Reading UFC Commentator Highlights Julianna Peña’s Key Quality That Will Serve Her Well At UFC 307 at MMA News.

‘If Sean O’Malley Had Won…’ – Jon Anik’s Unique Argument To Defend Jon Jones In Pound-For-Pound Rankings

Jon Jones last fought in the UFC in March 2023, when he submitted Ciryl Gane to win the promotion’s heavyweight title. Stipe Miocic was supposed to be his first title defense but a shoulder injury compelled the champion to take time off from training. While Jones has been inactive, Islam Makhachev has defended his UFC […]

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While Jones has been inactive, Islam Makhachev has defended his UFC lightweight title twice and sits comfortably at the top of the company’s pound-for-pound rankings. The community is divided on the matter though, especially after Dana White bluntly dismissed the rankings and called Jones the undisputed pound-for-pound best fighter.

Although Jon Anik believes Makhachev to be the P4P best, he might not be in favor of Jones being excluded from the rankings because of inactivity…

Jon Anik Imagines How Sean O’Malley’s Pound-For-Pound Rank Would’ve Changed Due To Injury Like Jon Jones

Anik recently appeared on the official MMAFightingonSBN YouTube channel to discuss all things UFC. When asked for his two cents on the endless P4P debate, the UFC commentator made a clear distinction between Jones being the greatest fighter of all time and Makhachev being the best skill-to-skill fighter in the world right now.

“jon Jones is the greatest mixed martial arts athlete for me. Pound-for-pound in the world, today, I think it’s pretty consensus that Islam Makhachev is the guy. But yeah, when Jonny Jones is in an active competition cycle and given body of work, yeah, he’s the guy. But right now, Islam for me, is you know, skill-for-skill, and given activity, number one.”

Anik was then informed about MMA Fighting’s criteria for removing fighters who haven’t competed in over 18 months from the P4P list. As a result, Jones is not even in their top 20 men’s pound-for-pound fighters, let alone fighting for the top spots.

This is when one of UFC’s most familiar play-by-play voices brought up Sean O’Malley, who’ll be out of action because of requiring hip surgery. While not targeting MMA Fighting specifically, he suggested that it would’ve been interesting how MMA media would’ve handled O’Malley’s pound-for-pound rank had he beaten Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306 and then taken a year or more to recover from the hip injury as the active champ.

Anik also pointed out that the UFC bantamweight division is stacked with talented contenders, which would’ve made O’Malley’s case even more intriguing.

“It really would’ve been interesting if Sean O’Malley had won and had to get his hip prepared, you know. And you don’t see him for a year, you know, because there’s so many 35ers but there’s a new world order and it’s Merab Dvalishvili. You know, and, exciting times buddy.”

READ MORE: Merab Dvalishvili Explains Why He Questioned Islam Makhachev, Umar Nurmagomedov & Other Fighters Representing Russia

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Jon Anik Labels Noche UFC At The Sphere The ‘Sickest S*it’ He Has Ever Seen

Jon Anik is now hyped for Noche UFC after witnessing the impressive production quality of the upcoming pay-per-view event at The Sphere. UFC 306, known as Riyadh Season Noche UFC, is scheduled for September 14 at The Sphere in Las Vegas, Nevada, in ho…

Jon Anik amazed by Noche UFC production quality

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Jon Anik Defends UFC Champion Against Ducking Allegations

There has been a lot of talk of late regarding who will be Belal Muhammad’s first title challenger, after winning the welterweight belt at UFC 304. The undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov is quite clearly the most deserving contender but there has been some debate over whether former champion Kamaru Usman should also be in the discussion. […]

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There has been a lot of talk of late regarding who will be Belal Muhammad’s first title challenger, after winning the welterweight belt at UFC 304.

The undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov is quite clearly the most deserving contender but there has been some debate over whether former champion Kamaru Usman should also be in the discussion.

Rakhmonov recently said in an interview that he had already been offered the title shot for UFC 307, which takes place in Salt Lake City on October 5.

He claims that Muhammad turned the fight down because he couldn’t make that turnaround, which isn’t surprising considering he fought five rounds at the end of July.

A long-time supporter of the champion has come to his defense after some fans tried to accuse Muhammad of dodging what many believe will be a big challenge for him.

Jon Anik Says That Belal Muhammad Isn’t Ducking Shavkat Rakhmonov, Explains Motivation Behind Potential Usman Fight

In a series of posts on X, UFC commentator Jon Anik gave his thoughts on the current layout of the welterweight division.

Anik stressed that Muhammad shouldn’t be criticized for talking about what would be a big fight against Usman and that he certainly isn’t trying to avoid Rakhmonov at the same time.

“1) For his legacy, not at all surprising Belal Muhammad would want the chance to defend his title against one of the all-time welterweight greats in Kamaru Usman but the notion he is somehow trying to sidestep Shavkat Rakhmonov is straight fake news.”

1) For his legacy, not at all surprising Belal Muhammad would want the chance to defend his title against one of the all-time welterweight greats in Kamaru Usman but the notion he is somehow trying to sidestep Shavkat Rakhmonov is straight fake news.

— Jon Anik (@Jon_Anik) September 4, 2024

Anik then went on to explain how everyone, including the UFC, knows that Rakhmonov is the next rightful contender, stating that Muhammad’s willingness to fight the unbeaten contender isn’t a barrier in the way of making that fight happen.

“2) Shavkat Rakhmonov is 18-0 w/ 18 finishes. 6-0 in the UFC. Whether he has the No. 3 or No. 1 ranking matters not. Most of us see him as the largely unquestioned, rightful, next title challenger. And I think the UFC concurs! But the champion ain’t the f*cking problem. Trust.”

2) Shavkat Rakhmonov is 18-0 w/ 18 finishes. 6-0 in the UFC. Whether he has the No. 3 or No. 1 ranking matters not. Most of us see him as the largely unquestioned, rightful, next title challenger. And I think the UFC concurs! But the champion ain't the f*cking problem. Trust.

— Jon Anik (@Jon_Anik) September 4, 2024

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Jon Anik Says Israel Adesanya will Unleash the Beast Against Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 305

Israel Adesanya vs. Dricus Du Plessis will be a middleweight title match for the ages, says UFC commentator Jon…

Israel Adesanya vs. Dricus Du Plessis will be a middleweight title match for the ages, says UFC commentator Jon Anik. The UFC 305 main event is set to be a bad-blood showdown between the current champion facing the former king of the division.

Jon Anik Talks Dricus Du Plessis vs. Israel Adesanya

South Africa’s Dricus Du Plessis is on an impressive nine-fight win streak with his most recent bout being a title win against Sean Strickland. Along the way to UFC gold, ‘Stillknocks’ has also defeated Derek Brunson, Darren Till, and Robert Whittaker, among others.

‘The Last Stylebender’ Israel Adesanya, the Nigerian-Kiwi athlete, captured the UFC middleweight title by knockout against Robert Whittaker in 2019. he was able to defend this throne in five bouts overall. Lost and won the crown to Alex Pereira before losing it to Strickland.

Adesanya is from Nigeria originally and grew up in New Zealand. Along the way to UFC 305, he has taken great offense to Dricus Du Plessis calling himself an African champion. While Du Plessis is from South Africa, Adesanya says that Du Plessis is not African due to his heritage of being a white guy.

This bad blood has likely inspired and given a flair to Adesanya says UFC commentator Jon Anik, who will be in the booth at UFC 305. Breaking down the match with Submission Radio, Anik explained:

Now, that’s just the nature, I think, of MMA, and a lot of Championship-level athletes would tell you that if you need that extra motivation at that level, then maybe you should find a different sport. But my gosh, you can be sure that this has unleashed the best type of beast when it comes to Israel’s preparation.

And yeah, on the other side, Israel Adesanya is fighting a dude who’s just like a truck and not a human being who just seemingly won’t be denied because maybe he’s more like a machine than a man. You know, Du Plessis is a fascinating champion. I also think that the nature of this matchup is gonna have him just completely locked in. I’m getting excited just talking to you about it. This is the first time I’m really talking about UFC 305, so when you set it up, I’m just getting all this energy.

It’s just going to be an electric MMA atmosphere when you have an MMA championship matchup like this, with friction and skill upon skill. It just doesn’t get any better.