Dan Hardy said Sean O'Malley's most important moment against Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306 should be his goal to replay.

O'Malley (18-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) lost to Dvalishvili's bantamweight title last September through a unanimous decision. He wasn't able to land too many clean strikes, but a teen to the body had Dvalishvili (19-4 MMA, 12-2 UFC) backing up late in Round 5. As they prepare to run things back in Saturday's UFC 316 headliner (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) at Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, Hardy urges O'Malley to invest in his bodywork.

"Sean O'Malley would feel like he needs to be more proactive in trying to find the finish," Hardy said on his YouTube channel. "Because the last round of action was done with the front kick in the front, Merab was injured and looked up at the clock, and I mean, it was a dead giveaway. Merab's obvious goal is his mid-section."

O'Malley took the lightest title on the chin of Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292.

"In the final round, I think O'Malley realized that there was another way to win besides winning a punch on the chin, which was damaging his body," Hardy added. "There might be a game plan to come in and attack Merab's body, but the mistake they made was that O'Malley was using his cross, which opened his head, Merab opened his head, Merab did a great job. If I was O'Malley, if I was O'Malley. And had my own way.

"Especially, if Merab is in this fight like he did in the last game, at that moment, the resting place is more in control of the pace. That's where Sean O'Malley needs to be proactive. The front kick to the mid-segment is the obvious way, even if he can open his middle, if he can do it, if he can do a lot of damage. It's very good for people who are constantly changing.

Contrary to most experts, Hardy predicts O'Malley's victory.

"O'Malley's skills and skills are able to get Merab out of the way," Hardy said. "But if Merab plays the right game, he should be able to get O'Malley into a stumbling block. That being said, I think we're going to be in the rubber game. I think O'Malley might steal this with something clean because Merab over-expands himself."