Tag: Merab Dvalishvili

Sean O’Malley gripes about UFC 306 scores, urges fans to rewatch Merab Dvalishvili fight without commentary

Sean O’Malley believes the judges did him dirty and is adamant that he won Rounds 1, 3 and 5 against Merab Dvalishvili.

[autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] is known for his fighting and, at times, controversial comments. His latest take is sure to draw a lot of attention.

The former UFC bantamweight champion, who lost his title to [autotag]Merab Dvalishvili[/autotag] at UFC 306, previously made no excuses and owned up to getting beat. But now that O’Malley has rewatched the fight more than a week later, he is convinced he should’ve been awarded the win – contrary to what many have expressed, including the judges scoring the bout.

“The narrative around this f*cking fight is that I got my ass whooped,” O’Malley said on his YouTube channel last week. “I’m going to ask the UFC if they could please post that fight on YouTube. I won the first, third and fifth round. I challenge all you little dorks that think I got my ass kicked to rewatch that fight. I know it’s hard to be non-biased, but rewatch that fight, turn the commentary off and tell me I did not win that fight. I won the first, third, and fifth. Oh, I’m f*cking fired up right now. I’m the champ, I won, go rewatch that fight.”

O’Malley (18-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) rewatched the fight with coach Tim Welch and his friends, who all agreed in the way he scored the fight for himself. O’Malley was criticized for this, with many claiming he just had “yes men” around him.

In a subsequent video on Monday, O’Malley stayed firm on his stance.

“It’s funny. People are saying, ‘You just have a bunch of yes men around,’ but if you watch Rounds 1, 3, 5 closely, no commentating, I’m not going to talk about it too much, just go watch 1, 3, 5,” O’Malley said. “Rounds 2, 4 I lost, no debate. I 100 percent lost those two rounds but not 1, 3, 5.”

O’Malley is set to have hip surgery on Oct. 3 to address an injury he sustained during camp for his title defense against Dvalishvili (18-4 MMA, 11-2 UFC). He expects to be out of action anywhere from six months to a year.

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T.J. Dillashaw: Merab Dvalishvili made Sean O’Malley look very weak at UFC 306

Former UFC bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw gives his opinion on Merab Dvalishvili’s title win over Sean O’Malley at UFC 306.

[autotag]T.J. Dillashaw[/autotag] didn’t expect [autotag]Merab Dvalishvili[/autotag] to look that dominant in his first UFC championship fight.

Dillashaw, a former UFC bantamweight champion, was taken away by how Dvalishvili (18-4 MMA, 11-2 UFC) looked against [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] in the main event of UFC 306 earlier this month in Las Vegas. Dvalishvili took the 135-pound title from O’Malley (18-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC), outpointing him in a unanimous decision.

“It’s not that I didn’t expect it,” Dillashaw said on the Jaxxon Podcast. “I knew that it was very close on the betting odds and when I had to go and pick this fight, I knew that Merab had a chance to just pressure the f*ck out of him. The guy is the Tasmanian Devil. He never stops and continues to shoot shots. I knew it was a possibility, but I thought – especially after watching how O’Malley has composed himself and how well he’s done on his feet using his feints, distance and angles – I thought he’d be able to keep that distance and control, be hard to take down and spark him. That’s what I thought could happen, as well.

“I didn’t think it was going to be this easy for Merab. Merab made him look weak – very weak.”

Dillashaw does think O’Malley has the technique to beat Dvalishvili, and is not ruling him out to win should they rematch in the future.

“O’Malley has the skills to beat this guy. He just didn’t use them,” Dillashaw said. “You can feint to freeze him, get outside his shoulder, so the takedowns are not there.”

Dvalishvili now holds wins over several former champions including Jose Aldo, Petr Yan, Henry Cejudo, and now O’Malley. Although not official, many expect him to make his first title defense against undefeated Umar Nurmagomedov.

In defeat, O’Malley came up short in his second title defense attempt. Prior to the loss, his only other defeat was a 2020 injury TKO to Marlon Vera. He won the title against Aljamain Sterling in August 2023 and defended against Marlon Vera in March.

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Demetrious Johnson: UFC champ Merab Dvalishvili’s conditioning will be X-factor vs. Umar Nurmagomedov

Demetrious Johnson sees UFC champion Merab Dvalishvili having a major advantage over Umar Nurmagomedov.

[autotag]Demetrious Johnson[/autotag] sees UFC bantamweight champion [autotag]Merab Dvalishvili[/autotag] having a major advantage over [autotag]Umar Nurmagomedov[/autotag].

Dvalishvili (18-4 MMA, 11-2 UFC) defeated Sean O’Malley (18-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) in a dominant decision win to claim the bantamweight title in Saturday’s UFC 306 main event at Sphere in Las Vegas.

Umar Nurmagomedov (18-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) is waiting in the wings for his title shot, but Dvalishvili is not sold on him being No. 1 contender. However, if Dvalishvili and Nurmagomedov do end up fighting, Johnson thinks Dvalishvili’s gas tank will give him an edge.

“This is going to be interesting because I feel his conditioning is going to be the X-factor because we know he’s not going to stop,” Johnson said on his YouTube channel. “He’s going to be a busy bee around the octagon to where this gentleman (Nurmagomedov) has the high kicks, he’s very long, he’s very big, and he also has the wrestling.

“But he does not have the work ethic like this man (Dvalishvili). Not saying he doesn’t have the work ethic, he doesn’t have just that, ‘I’m coming to smash you, I’m coming to smother you,’ like Khabib. This man (Dvalishvili) has that bear gene where he just comes and gets you, where he’s (Nurmagomedov) more strategic.”

Nurmagomedov competed in his first main event at UFC on ABC 7 in August, when he outlasted Cory Sandhagen in what was dubbed as a title eliminator.

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Marlon Vera clarifies controversial post after Merab Dvalishvili’s UFC 306 win, congratulates new champ

It turns out “Chito” Vera didn’t actually question Merab Dvalishvili’s decision win over Sean O’Malley at UFC 306.

[autotag]Marlon Vera[/autotag] definitely had one of the most bizarre and controversial social media posts over the weekend.

Vera, a former UFC bantamweight title challenger, had a unique take on Saturday’s UFC 306 main event in which [autotag]Merab Dvalishvili[/autotag] took the 135-pound title in dominant fashion from [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag]. Vera wrote on X, ‘I call it the other way, but congrats Merab well fought,’ which triggered many responses given the nature of the fight.

Vera said his comments were misinterpreted, as he meant something completely different.

“I tweeted after the fight, ‘I call it the other way, but congrats Merab,’ and when I said ‘call it the other way,’ I didn’t refer to the decision,” Vera said on his YouTube channel. “That was a clear-cut Merab won five founds. I was meaning that before the fight, O’Malley was going to win the fight because of his size and punch power and how he defends the takedowns against Aljo – who on paper is probably a better wrestler than Merab.

“I got called that I got CTE and some sh*t, because they assumed I said I saw the decision for O’Malley, which that’s impossible.”

In terms of the fight, Vera was impressed with what he saw from Dvalisvili. He also thought O’Malley didn’t have the right approach to the fight, which contributed to the lopsided showing.

“That was a great fight,” Vera said. “I really thought if Sean could hit Merab early in the fight, things could change because he’s been dropped by Cejudo and Marlon Moraes, but he just couldn’t land. Merab had that kind of jerky move, and it’s hard to hit him. In a way, you can’t snipe this guy. You have to fight him. I would say it’s compared to the fight with Chad Mendes and Conor. Every time Conor would get up, he would crowd Chad right away and be on his face right away. Every time Sean would get up, there was little separation. That probably messed his rhythm, and we know Merab can just take you down over and over and over.

“In my opinion, you have to sit down and fight him. He’s going to take you down regardless, might as well just go crazy on him. But overall, great fight. Congratulations to the new champion.”

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Aljamain Sterling: To say Sean O’Malley looked flat vs. Merab Dvalishvili ‘makes no sense’

Aljamain Sterling rubbishes the claim that Sean O’Malley looked flat at UFC 306 because it takes away from Merab Dvalishvili’s win.

[autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag] rubbishes the claim that [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] looked flat at UFC 306.

O’Malley (18-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) was taken down six times en route to a unanimous decision loss to [autotag]Merab Dvalishvili[/autotag] (18-4 MMA, 11-2 UFC) in Saturday’s title-fight headliner at Sphere in Las Vegas.

UFC CEO Dana White said he thought O’Malley looked flat, and Sterling is bothered to see credit being taken away from his good friend and training partner. He thinks O’Malley has fought stationary targets for the most part in his career.

“I know people are trying to say that O’Malley looked flat. I think that’s the narrative that Dana was trying to push,” Sterling said on his YouTube channel. “If I’m being fair, if you look at his fights, his track record of all the guys he’s beaten, they were all punching bags for the most part. … I give credit where due. He was well prepared, but to say he looked flat makes no sense.

“The opening bell when he’s coming out with those feints, those hip twitches that he does so well where he’s shaking off to the side, shaking off to the other side and then looking for those long strikes, he came out exactly like Conor McGregor did against Khabib. Now I gave Merab that same exact look, coming out with the fingers, long, trying to hit the feints and trying to go to the body, trying to go up top.”

Sterling lost his bantamweight title to O’Malley by knockout at UFC 292, so he was able to give Dvalishvili some insight on how to fight him. Sterling is also convinced that O’Malley was told about fighting at Sphere before Dvalishvili, which he says did not make it a level playing field.

“Merab finally got his fair shake. He got a fair fight, although O’Malley probably knew about the Sphere fight before Merab did and had more time to prepare,” Sterling said. “When they announced it for Merab from what I remember, they called him, it was exactly eight weeks.

“Now come on, once again we’re trying to put this ball in the court where he (Merab) has to now scramble around like, ‘OK, I’m fighting here. I’ve got to get all these training partners, make sure everything is dialed in.”

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USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, Sept. 17: New No. 1 in two divisions after UFC 306 title changes

Check out the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings following UFC 306, which featured two titles changes at Sphere.

It’s not often two major championships change hands on the same night, but that’s what went down this past Saturday at UFC 306.

The historic event at Sphere in Las Vegas saw [autotag]Merab Dvalishvili[/autotag] claim the UFC bantamweight title from Sean O’Malley by unanimous decision in the main event, while [autotag]Valentina Shevchenko[/autotag] recaptured the women’s flyweight title with a unanimous decision over Alexa Grasso in their historic trilogy fight.

Dvalishvili and Shevchenko were both entered fight week as No. 2 in their respective divisions against the No. 1. That changed with the result, and now the new UFC titleholders have their rightful No. 1 spots.

There were also other results that impacted the rankings, such as Diego Lopes’ dominant win over Brian Ortega in the featherweight division.

Check out all the latest pound-for-pound and divisional USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings above.

Kamaru Usman urges UFC champ Merab Dvalishvili to embrace Umar Nurmagomedov challenge

Kamaru Usman thinks Umar Nurmagomedov is the perfect opponent to elevate UFC champ Merab Dvalishvili’s profile.

[autotag]Kamaru Usman[/autotag] believes [autotag]Umar Nurmagomedov[/autotag] is the perfect opponent to elevate UFC bantamweight champion [autotag]Merab Dvalishvili[/autotag]’s profile.

Dvalishvili (18-4 MMA, 11-2 UFC) dethroned Sean O’Malley (18-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) to claim the bantamweight title in a dominant decision win in Saturday’s UFC 306 headliner at Sphere in Las Vegas.

Even though the camera panned to Nurmagomedov during his post-fight octagon interview, Dvalishvili refused to acknowledge him. He insists Deiveson Figueiredo is the more worthy contender.

Usman pointed to his rivalry with Colby Covington, which brought out the best of him. He thinks Nurmagomedov (18-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) could do the same for Dvalishvili.

“Merab is not afraid, but I know he’s worried about a guy like Umar, and sometimes those are the guys that really put you on that next level,” Usman said on his “Pound 4 Pound” podcast with Henry Cejudo. “Merab might come out there and look like freaking the best we’ve ever seen.

“So I needed that dance partner. Colby Covington gave me that, and so that’s what Merab – at this point, I think if I had any advice for Merab, it’s to embrace that. It’s to embrace that. You’re right. When they did ask him that question, he kind of danced around it.”

Henry Cejudo suggests Nurmagomedov is bad news for Dvalishvili.

“Merab knows. Merab has a respect for Umar, and I personally just think he’s in trouble,” Cejudo said. “With all due respect, I respect the fact that one, he beat me, and then two, that he came on our show. But if you don’t fight a guy like Umar, the UFC is going to make you fight a guy like Umar. Your career as a champ is pretty much done.”

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Video: Did UFC 306 at Sphere live up to Dana White’s hype?

With Dana White and the UFC’s “love letter to the Mexican people” in the books, “Spinning Back Clique” discusses if the show delivered.

UFC 306 went down this Saturday, and it was the most expensive event the promotion has ever put on given the production demands of the Sphere in Las Vegas. It was an ambitious move by the UFC, and [autotag]Dana White[/autotag] hyped it up to be the greatest sporting event ever.

UFC 306 saw two champions lose their titles as [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] and [autotag]Alexa Grasso [/autotag]were dominated by [autotag]Merab Dvalishvili[/autotag] and [autotag]Valentina Shevchenko[/autotag] in their respective bouts.

Now that the historic event is in the books, did UFC 306 deliver on what White promised? Can UFC 306 be considered a success? And what comes next for the big winners and losers?

MMA Junkie’s Farah Hannoun, Mike Bohn, Danny Segura, and host Gorgeous George discuss the UFC’s debut at Sphere, along with the main results from the card.

Watch their discussion in the video above, and don’t miss this week’s complete episode of “Spinning Back Clique” below on YouTube.

https://youtube.com/live/3EgC1RE0PgU

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Merab Dvalishvili, Tim Welch explain bizarre (and heated) back-and-forth to start UFC 306 title fight

While Tim Welch tried to downplay his actions, Merab Dvalishvili put Sean O’Malley’s head coach on blast for “zero sportsmanship.”

With UFC 306 complete, Tim Welch admits he knew [autotag]Merab Dvalishvili[/autotag] “was gonna be a problem,” which might explain his motivation for doing what he did at the start of Saturday night’s main event at Sphere in Las Vegas.

The puzzling moment occurred just 10 seconds into Dvalishvili’s title fight with bantamweight champion [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] as the challenger pointed and started yelling in the direction of O’Malley’s corner, prompting referee Herb Dean to call time and admonish Dvalishvili. As it unfolded, the UFC 306 commentary team of Joe Rogan, Daniel Cormier and Jon Anik was baffled.

In-cage audio during the broadcast shed some light on the bizarre moment, with Dean telling Dvalishvili, “Merab, don’t start this. Do not talk to him. That’s my job.” Dean also addressed Welch after restarting the fight. “Do your job, I’ll do mine,” he told O’Malley’s head coach.

So what happened and what was said? Welch attempted to explain Monday and downplayed the situation in a video on his YouTube channel.

“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,” Welch said. “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 [makes noises] yell. But I did say that. 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.”

In explaining the situation from his point of view, Dvalishvili admitted video of Welch calling out good friend Aljamain Sterling’s name at UFC 292 was on his mind.

“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 on X. “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 crap 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!”

Welch didn’t expect Dvalishvili’s reaction to be as animated as it was.

“I was surprised at how much he freaked out,” Welch said. “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.”

Welch is right in that his early-fight taunting had no effect on Dvalishvili, who went on to dominate O’Malley for 25 minutes and claim the bantamweight title by unanimous decision.

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Javier Mendez finds it ‘weird’ that Merab Dvalishvili refuses to acknowledge Umar Nurmagomedov as No. 1 contender

Javier Mendez is confused why Merab Dvalishvili doesn’t want to fight Umar Nurmagomedov.

[autotag]Javier Mendez[/autotag] is confused why [autotag]Merab Dvalishvili[/autotag] doesn’t want to fight [autotag]Umar Nurmagomedov[/autotag].

Dvalishvili (18-4 MMA, 11-2 UFC) dethroned Sean O’Malley with a dominant decision win to claim the bantamweight title in Saturday’s UFC 306 headliner at Sphere in Las Vegas. In the post-fight news conference, Dvalishvili insisted that Deiveson Figueiredo is a more worthy challenger than Nurmagomedov.

Mendez doesn’t want to accuse Dvalishvili of being scared of Nurmagomedov (18-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC), but says he should fight whoever the UFC declares as No. 1 contender.

“I don’t know what the hell to think because how can you say the other person is more deserving when the ranking put Umar as No. 2?” Mendez told Submission Radio. “And they also promised Umar the fight or whoever the winner was going to be between Sandhagen and Umar that they would get the next title shot. The UFC is coming through with their with their promise and that’s what they’re trying to put together.

“Why Merab is trying to maybe avoid him – I don’t know if he is or isn’t. I really don’t know. It’s weird. My fighters, what I tell them is, when you’re the champion, you just get ready to fight whoever they put in front of you, you fight. If you’re not a real champion, then fine – pick who you want to pick. But if you’re the real champion, you fight. The only thing you should be able to choose is the dates.”

Mendez admits he initially hoped Nurmagomedov would have fought bigger star O’Malley for the title. The American Kickboxing Academy head coach also thinks Nurmagomedov would have done more damage on the ground to O’Malley than Dvalishvili did.

“It would have played out different,” Mendez said. “It wouldn’t have been the same. Sure, on the ground, it would have been bad for O’Malley, but he might have got finished on the ground with Umar, had Umar been able to take him to the ground. More than likely, I think, based on what I saw, if had it been Umar on the ground on him like that, Umar is more of a submission specialist than Merab is.”

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