Daniel Cormier expects Sean O'Malley to handle the magnitude of the Sphere more than Merab Dvalishvili.
O’Malley (18-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC) defends his bantamweight title against Dvalishvili (17-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 306 (pay-per-view, ESPNews, ESPN+) headliner at Sphere in Las Vegas.
The UFC hits the Sphere for a historic event which will feature first-time haptic seats, TAIT’s Automated Camera System, and the world’s highest resolution LED display. Cormier sees the bright lights benefitting O’Malley.
“I think it helps Sean because he is a show, and what I expect for this weekend is a big show, everything bigger,” Cormier told ESPN MMA. “The graphics bigger, the design bigger, the octagon is going to feel different. The seating arrangement will have to be different. Everything is going to feel different. It will feel big, it will feel like a show, and that’s kind of what it feels like when O’Malley fights, anyway.
“We were in Miami last time. Miami needs an attraction as the main event. Izzy (Adesanya) the year before, Sean (this year). He brings the show. This time, he doesn’t necessarily need to bring the show, but because he’s been such an attraction, he will feel more comfortable in that environment. Merab’s fights, not very long ago, he was fighting Petr Yan in the Virgin Hotel. That’s a smaller arena. Now he’s stepping into the Sphere to fight Sean O’Malley for the belt.”
Eleven of of O’Malley’s 12 octagon appearances have been on UFC pay-per-view events. Dvalishvili has only been a part of four pay-per-views in 12 UFC appearances.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 306.
