Sean O'Malley's Coach Explains What He Said to Merab Dvalishvili During UFC 306 Main Event

09/16/2024 01:36 PM

The UFC 306 headliner was a pretty straightforward affair with Merab Dvalishvili using his wrestling to dominate Sean O’Malley for 25 minutes and leave Sphere with the bantamweight title.

However, there was a fairly interesting moment right from the get-go that brought a stop to the action.

In the opening seconds of their main event clash, Dvalishvili began mouthing off, but his words weren’t being directed at O’Malley. Instead, ‘The Machine’ was trading verbal jabs with O’Malley’s coach, Tim Welch. Referee Herb Dean quickly stepped in to admonish Dvalishvili for talking to O’Malley’s corner. He also issued a warning to Welch for what was described on the broadcast as “excessive coaching.”

While Welch’s words to Dvalishvili could not be heard during the broadcast, O’Malley’s coach later revealed what he said in the opening seconds.

“I said be patient Merab, but congrats he fought a great fight,” Welch wrote on X.

It’s not the first time Tim Welch has been caught ‘coaching’ another UFC fighter

It’s not the first time Welch has been busted trying to “coach” an opposing fighter. As seen in the Fight Inc: Inside the UFC documentary on Roku, Welch appeared to communicate with Aljamain Sterling during the fighter’s bantamweight title tilt with O’Malley at UFC 292. Moments later, ‘Sugar’ caught Sterling with a booming right hand as the then-champ was looking to close the distance.

Moments later, the fight was over and O’Malley was crowned the new king at 135 pounds.

Unfortunately for O’Malley, he couldn’t handle the smothering attack of Dvalishvili, bringing an end to his reign after just 13 months.

Dvalishvili has now won 11 straight fights inside the Octagon and will likely face a tough test in his first title defense as he’s expected to meet No. 2 ranked contender Umar Nurmagomedov.