BOUTSCOUT
Matchup deep-dive

Merab Dvalishvili vs.
Sean O'Malley

Two full careers, measured against each man's own division and against each other — the tape, the read, and every number behind them.

14-3-0 Merab Dvalishvili · UFC
12-3-0 (1 NC) Sean O'Malley · UFC
Tale of the tape

The men, measured.

Frame, age, layoff and recent form — green marks the edge on each line.

14-3-0
UFC record
12-3-0 (1 NC)
Bantamweight
Division (benchmark)
Bantamweight
35.6
AgeΔ 3.8 yrs
31.8
5'6"
HeightΔ 5"
5'11"
68"
ReachΔ 4"
72"
Orthodox
Stance
Switch
8
Layoff (months)Δ 6.3 mo
1.7
LWWWW
Last 5 (newest first)
WWLLW
The read

What the numbers say.

Scouting notes, auto-generated — only stats deviating more than 25% from the division median make this list. No narratives, just deviations.

Merab Dvalishvili hunts takedowns — 5.97 per 15 minutes, vs a 1.12 Bantamweight norm.
Merab Dvalishvili owns the mat — in control 36% of cage time, vs a 17% Bantamweight norm.
Sean O'Malley carries real power — 0.55 knockdowns per 15 minutes, vs a 0.30 Bantamweight norm.
Level of competition

Who did they actually beat?

Full-career records re-graded by the tier of opposition — the same grading the Contender Series pick model uses. Records built on tier-4 competition are worth less than records built on killers.

Merab Dvalishvili

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 143
Tier 3 — regional circuit 72

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.37 · 14 tier-1/2 wins · 5 finish wins over 26 documented bouts

In the UFC: 12-1 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +3.8 wins over .500

Sean O'Malley

Competition tierWL
Tier 1 — UFC / DWCS / PFL / Bellator / ONE / Rizin 133
Tier 2 — LFA / Cage Warriors (feeder belts) 10
Tier 3 — regional circuit 60

Tier-weighted record quality: 1.75 · 14 tier-1/2 wins · 14 finish wins over 24 documented bouts

In the UFC: 8-3 against opponents who walked in above .500 · avg opponent walk-in record +4.1 wins over .500

Striking

The stand-up battle.

Career totals; norms are the medians of each man's own division.

Significant strikes — landed & absorbed

13224.42/min · norm 3.52
Sig. strikes landed
11315.97/min · norm 3.52
8382.80/min · norm 3.58
Sig. strikes absorbed
6333.34/min · norm 3.58
41.6%norm 43.4%
Striking accuracy
60.3%norm 43.4%
54.0%norm 56.6%
Striking defense
59.8%norm 56.6%
10.05/15 · norm 0.30
Knockdowns
70.55/15 · norm 0.30

Where the fight happens (share of sig. strike attempts)

Merab Dvalishvili

Distance 77.4% (norm 87.4%) · Clinch 9.0% (norm 5.7%) · Ground 13.5% (norm 6.5%)

Sean O'Malley

Distance 96.3% (norm 87.4%) · Clinch 1.3% (norm 5.7%) · Ground 2.4% (norm 6.5%)

What they throw (share of sig. strike attempts by target)

Merab Dvalishvili

Head 81.6% (norm 77.4%) · Body 10.5% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 7.9% (norm 8.4%)

Sean O'Malley

Head 74.7% (norm 77.4%) · Body 19.4% (norm 12.8%) · Legs 5.9% (norm 8.4%)

Zone accuracy matrix Landed / attempted by zone

Green ≥ division median, red below. UFCStats tracks position and target as separate splits.

Zone Dvalishvili L/AAccBantamweight med O'Malley L/AAccBantamweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 841 / 2463 34.1% 39.0% 1074 / 1805 59.5% 39.0%
In the clinch 197 / 287 68.6% 68.7% 20 / 25 80.0% 68.7%
On the ground 284 / 431 65.9% 70.2% 37 / 45 82.2% 70.2%
BY TARGET
To the head 880 / 2597 33.9% 34.9% 759 / 1401 54.2% 34.9%
To the body 229 / 334 68.6% 66.8% 269 / 364 73.9% 66.8%
To the legs 213 / 250 85.2% 79.4% 103 / 110 93.6% 79.4%

Zones with fewer than 25 attempts are marked "too few to rate". Each fighter is measured against the median of leaderboard-eligible fighters in his own division (Bantamweight: 117 fighters · Bantamweight: 117 fighters).

What lands on them Opponents' accuracy against each man

Green ≤ division median — harder to hit than the typical man in his division.

Zone vs Dvalishvili L/AOpp accBantamweight med vs O'Malley L/AOpp accBantamweight med
BY POSITION
At distance 701 / 1627 43.1% 39.3% 517 / 1402 36.9% 39.3%
In the clinch 114 / 169 67.5% 70.4% 33 / 57 57.9% 70.4%
On the ground 23 / 27 85.2% 72.4% 83 / 115 72.2% 72.4%
BY TARGET
To the head 493 / 1371 36.0% 34.9% 301 / 1088 27.7% 34.9%
To the body 225 / 309 72.8% 66.0% 93 / 180 51.7% 66.0%
To the legs 120 / 143 83.9% 79.1% 239 / 306 78.1% 79.1%
Grappling

The ground war.

Takedowns, control and submissions — career totals with each man's per-minute rates against his division norm.

11935.2% acc · 5.97/15 · norm 1.12
Takedowns landed
342.9% acc · 0.24/15 · norm 1.12
3876.0% def · norm 66.7%
Takedowns stopped
3759.7% def · norm 66.7%
107:2535.9% of cage time · norm 17.4%
Control time
2:031.1% of cage time · norm 17.4%
15:450:47 per 15 · norm 2:24
Time under control
32:472:35 per 15 · norm 2:24
70.35/15 · norm 0.28
Submission attempts
30.24/15 · norm 0.28

Bars compare the two men's rates (per-minute / per-15 figures), not raw totals — Dvalishvili has more cage time on record.

Next move

Let the engine settle it.