The UFC 306 main event got off to a strange start that bewildered both the audience and commentators.
Mere seconds into the opening round, title challenger Merab Dvalishvili began yelling directly at the corner of then-champion Sean O’Malley. The shouting in question was so prolific that it forced referee Herb Dean to temporarily stop the fight.
Dean first addressed Dvalishvili directly in the cage, telling him “Merab, don’t start this. Do not talk to him, that’s my job”. Upon continuing the bout, he turned to Tim Welch (O’Malley’s head coach) and said “Do your job, I’ll do mine”.
Those who watched O’Malley VS. Sterling will know that this is not the first time Welch has attempted to rile his fighter’s opponents.
Merab Dvalishvili and Tim Welch Explain UFC 306 Altercation
In a video on his YouTube channel, Welch explained to viewers what in specific what said to Dvalishvili.
“First round (he) comes out, and what I said to Merab was, ‘Merab, you need to be patient.’ And that’s when he freaked out. He started bucking himself around. I was like, ‘Holy cow, I just said Merab, be patient.’ He must’ve been anticipating that a little bit, but I really wasn’t going out of my way to yell. But I did say that.”
Welch then went on to explain how the excessive coaching warning that Dean mentioned changed his coaching.
“I guess there is an excessive coaching (rule), but I told Herb Dean some of our callouts have Merab’s name in it, and he said, ‘Nope, nope, nope.’ So, that ended.”
Dvalishvili’s Outlook
Evidently, the altercation did not impact Dvavishvili’s performance over the course of 25 minutes.
The Georgian took to X after the fight to elaborate on what happened, citing Welch’s previous interaction with teammate Aljamain Sterling.
“Everyone is asking what happened at start of fight – I was trying to stay professional and focus on the fight only, not wanting to change the energy of the fight.” Dvalishvili wrote.
“I made no eye contact with O’Malleys team. BUT when the fight started I hear his team calling out to me – Merab.. trying to coach, provoke and distract me. I yelled back at them cut it out and coach your own guy. I remembered they pulled the same cr*p with Aljo. Not professional. This is the way they want their fighter to win. It’s a shame how disrespectful they are and that they have zero sportsmanship!”.
Accusations of Welch using ‘dirty tactics’ have flown around online since the bout. MMA Lab’s head coach is adamant however, that he did not know Dvalishvili would react how he did.
“I was surprised at how much he freaked out,” Welch told viewers. “He let his emotions freaking get to him in there, but it didn’t do anything. Didn’t matter one bit. Like I said, we knew how good that guy was.”
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
