Coach Ray Longo offers his take on the Sean O’Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili matchup: “Merab knows what he’s up against”

Merab Dvalishvili will have the biggest opportunity of his mixed martial arts career this weekend as he is set to challenge Sean O'Malley for the bantamweight title at UFC 306. Ray Longo, who coaches 'The Machine' at Serra-Longo Fight Team, recently shared his thoughts on the upcoming bout, noting his fighter may have to eat some punches to emerge victorious.

During a recent appearance on The Anik & Florian Podcast, the mixed martial arts coach stated:

"He’s going to have to eat some punches to win this fight, period. That's it. I mean, O’Malley is a sharpshooter. If you go in there thinking you’re not going to get hit or you’re just going to do this or do that, I think that’s a huge mistake. Before the Marlon Moraes fight, I told him - if I tell you how many times I worked on getting underneath the left hook with him, and that’s exactly the punch he got hit with."

Longo continued:

"Leading up to the fight, I go, 'Merab, you're going to get hit.' The guy, he hits hard and I said, 'You’re going to have to walk through fire at some point in this fight.' And that’s exactly what he did so it’s going to be kind of the same thing. He's going to have to eat some shots... Merab knows what he’s up against. I think O’Malley is really good. I don’t think O’Malley has ever faced anybody with the pressure of Merab, and I don’t think Merab’s fought anybody with the length and the accuracy and the power of O’Malley."

Check out Ray Longo's comments on Sean O'Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili below (29:42):

Longo added whichever fighter controls the range will win the bantamweight title bout. Dvalishvili enters the bout riding a ten-fight winning streak, with his last loss coming at UFC Fight Night 128 in April 2018.

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Merab Dvalishvili claims Umar Nurmagomedov is being pushed because he is Khabib's cousin

Merab Dvalishvili encountered a long wait on his rise to fighting for the UFC bantamweight title this weekend, defeating former champions - Jose Aldo, Petr Yan, and Henry Cejudo - in each of his past three bouts. Umar Nurmagomedov will face a much shorter rise to the top of the division as he will likely receive the next title opportunity after just one win over a ranked opponent.

'The Machine' recently claimed that 'Young Eagle' is being pushed because he is the cousin of UFC Hall of Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov. Speaking to Damon Martin of MMA Fighting, the No.1-ranked bantamweight stated:

"You don't fight nobody and now you just got here because your last name is Nurmagomedov - because you're Khabib's cousin. If you ask them, they don't like trash talk, but they talk trash and they're acting like they're tough when it's in front of cameras. Good for him, but he has to grow up and he has to be more [of a] man. He has to respect fighters here. We've been here a long time and he's acting a little bit disrespectful."

Check out Merab Dvalishvili's comments on Umar Nurmagomedov below:

While Nurmagomedov has been fast-tracked, he was able to defeat Cory Sandhagen quite easily to rise up the rankings. The No.2-ranked bantamweight appears set to face the winner of this weekend's title clash between Dvalishvili and Sean O'Malley.