Tag: Sean O’Malley

New champ Merab Dvalishvili offers Sean O’Malley rematch at UFC 309, Umar has a response

If Sean O’Malley wants a chance to get the bantamweight title back, the new champ says he can have it.

(This story was updated to add new information.)

If [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] wants a chance to get the bantamweight title back, the new champ says he can have it.

[autotag]Merab Dvalishvili[/autotag] (18-4 MMA, 11-2 UFC) outworked O’Malley (18-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) for a unanimous decision in the UFC 306 main event a little less than two weeks ago at Sphere in Las Vegas. The bout was O’Malley’s second attempted title defense. He beat Aljamain Sterling to win the belt in August 2023, then beat Marlon Vera in March in his first defense.

While the fight with Dvalishvili appeared reasonably close on paper – Dvalishvili picked up a 49-46 score from one judge and 48-47s from two others – the fact remains no media outlets scoring the fight, as tracked by MMA Decisions, had it for O’Malley. A handful had 48-47 scores, but most had it 49-46 or 50-45 for Dvalishvili by a factor of about 2-to-1.

Still, O’Malley, on his YouTube podcast, said it’s his contention he won Rounds 1, 3 and 5 – and that the commentary helped create a bias among fans and pundits that he got his “ass whooped.” “I’m the champ. I won. Go rewatch that fight,” he said.

So if that’s the case, Dvalishvili said he’s down with a response on social media and even offered up a suggestion of UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden in New York in November.

“I hear O’Malley thinks he won the fight and is looking for a rematch,” Dvalishvili poster. “If he wants it he can have it. Let’s do it November 16th at the Garden and then I’ll still defend the title against whoever the UFC wants me to fight next. What do you think? @SugaSeanMMA”

O’Malley said there was “no debate” he lost Rounds 2 and 4, “100 percent,” but not the other three rounds.

Dvalishvili critics have started to surmise that the only reason he’s offering O’Malley a rematch is because he knows it’s not a viable option for his first title defense, and that it’s possible he’s ducking [autotag]Umar Nurmagomedov[/autotag].

Nurmagomedov seems to think that’s the case.

O’Malley is scheduled to have hip surgery next week and will be out for what is expected to be, at minimum, six months – but perhaps as long as a year. The hip injury reportedly was one he suffered in camp.

Later on social media, O’Malley took his turn to chime in and maintained his stance that he won three rounds.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 306.

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Herb Dean addresses handling of oddities in Merab Dvalishvili vs. Sean O’Malley at UFC 306

Veteran referee Herb Dean responds to critics of his refereeing in the Merab Dvalishvili vs. Sean O’Malley title fight at UFC 306.

It’s rare for MMA referees to speak about their job performance or provide explanations about their actions in the cage. However, veteran referee [autotag]Herb Dean[/autotag] is one of the few.

Dean came under fire by people on social media and even UFC commentators Joe Rogan and Daniel Cormier for several of his actions while officiating [autotag]Merab Dvalishvili[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] bantamweight title fight – which headlined UFC 306 at Sphere in Las Vegas on Sept. 14.

It was a fight in which Dvalishvili defeated O’Malley but had several odd occurrences.

For starters, in the first few seconds, Dvalishvili (18-4 MMA, 11-2 UFC) and O’Malley’s corner man, [autotag]Tim Welch[/autotag], were yelling at each other as the fight was going on. Dean stopped the action and ordered Welch to cut it out.

“I’m not here to be anyone’s parent or anything, and we want people’s personalities to be able to shine. That’s what makes our sport fun,” Dean told Helen Yee when asked about ordering Welch to stop addressing Dvalishvili. “We have some great personalities, but there is a rule that the seconds (cornermen) are not to interfere in the fight, and that includes trying to influence the referee. It specifies that, and you definitely can’t influence the other fighter or distract them. Your job is to coach the fighter, and my job is to do something about it.”

Although some took issue with Dean policing Welch’s trash-talking tactics, Dean said he was well within his right to act on it.

“It happens, and we do address it,” Dean explained. “It’s been happening as long as the sports have been here, you know what I mean. Even coaching the referee through the fighter, ‘OK, Herb is going to stand you up because all he wants to do is hold you, and he’s a boring, b*tch ass wrestler,’ and you know they try to coach me through coaching their fighter, and we know it. If it gets to be too much, we’ll say, ‘Hey, that’s a little excessive.’ It’s in the rules, and that’s what the rule is for.”

Not long after the bizarre trash-talking incident, another occurred.

At the end of Round 2, Dvalishvili had O’Malley (18-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC)  in a front headlock against the cage and decided to kiss O’Malley’s back multiple times before letting him go and walking away in the final seconds. An upset O’Malley stood up and swung at a distracted Dvalishvili before the bell rang.

Dean also interfered but this time issued a warning to Dvalishvili.

“Yes, yes, and that falls under sportsmanlike conduct. It does.” Dean said regarding the kisses. “Abusive language and things like that you’re not supposed to do.”

Toward the end of the bout, Dean kept telling Dvalishvili to work as he was moving away from O’Malley, who was looking to land a big shot and not let the fight go to the judges’ scorecards.

Many took issue with Dean’s comments calling for action, especially Rogan, who voiced his disapproval on the broadcast.

“I’ve seen on social media people have spoken on me about calling the fighters to do more action, and that’s what I’ve always done,” Dean said. “I can tell you what I tell fighters in the rules briefing, I tell them anytime that I’m going to have an intervention, I’m going to talk to you first. If I’m going to stand you up, I’m going to say, ‘Let’s work,’ or I’ll clap.

“That means that what I’m expecting is not busy work, I’m looking for effort to finish the fight. So you either posture or you can potentially set up fight ending attacks or advance your position or effort to advance, or pass the position … That rule was put in, standing up, to make our sport look like we want it to look.”

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T.J. Dillashaw: ‘More dangerous’ Cory Sandhagen pieces up Sean O’Malley

T.J. Dillashaw thinks Cory Sandhagen is a bad matchup for Sean O’Malley.

[autotag]T.J. Dillashaw[/autotag] thinks [autotag]Cory Sandhagen[/autotag] is a bad matchup for [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag].

Sandhagen called for O’Malley (18-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) after “The Suga Show” lost his bantamweight title to Merab Dvalishvili (18-4 MMA, 11-2 UFC) by unanimous decision in the UFC 306 main event at Sphere in Las Vegas. Dillashaw thought Dvalishvili made O’Malley look very weak in the fight.

Sandhagen (17-5 MMA, 10-4 UFC) thinks fans would salivate for a striking battle between him and O’Malley, but former champion Dillashaw thinks it wouldn’t even be competitive.

“I think he pieces Sean up,” Dillashaw said on the Jaxxon Podcast. “When they were getting ready to give a title fight to someone, I thought that Sandhagen would’ve been a dope fight for him. I think Sandhagen’s just better at what O’Malley is good at, to be honest. He’s just more dangerous. But O’Malley’s got great feints. I would love to see that fight.”

Dillashaw knows first hand how good Sandhagen is on the feet. He fought Sandhagen in July 2021, edging him out in a close decision win by using his grappling.

However, Sandhagen may not get his desired fight with O’Malley just yet, after O’Malley announced that he’s set to undergo surgery Oct. 3 for a torn labrum in his left hip, which he suffered 10 weeks prior to his fight with Dvalishvili.

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‘I’ll put a million dollars me vs. him’: Sean O’Malley claps back at Devin Haney over UFC 306 criticism

Devin Haney might’ve gotten the last word on the former UFC champion, though.

Things are heating up between former UFC champion [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] and boxing star [autotag]Devin Haney[/autotag].

O’Malley wasn’t going to stay quiet about Haney’s recent comments on his bantamweight title loss to Merab Dvalishvili earlier this month at UFC 306. Haney posted on X, “O’Malley’s b*tch ass lost..” after the fight and in a recent video, O’Malley finally addressed that remark.

“Boxers are f*cking pussies,” O’Malley said on his YouTube channel. “Devin Haney is a b*tch. If David Haney really wants to fight, I’ll put a million dollars me vs. him, no time limit, and we can fight. MMA rules, just a fight, or we can do no rules, so if you wanna eye poke me you can. Let’s do a real f*cking fight. You wanna talk sh*t on Twitter? Really, really actually fight or just don’t talk sh*t.

“Either don’t talk sh*t or let’s actually fight. I would box and put $1 million of my money. Boxing rules just to protect him. I would just simply box him, but he wouldn’t just simply fight me. Don’t talk sh*t.”

Haney appeared to be all in on the challenge as he issued a response Monday on X. However, Haney is only down if the purse was higher than $1 million.

“I don’t fight for a million dollars like you.. @SugaSeanMMA let’s do a boxing fight & give us a shot at making real money!”

https://twitter.com/Realdevinhaney/status/1838306408300708140

O’Malley is expected to undergo 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 competition anywhere from six months to a year.

O’Malley has expressed interest in the past to take his skills to the boxing world in potential fights with Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia, and now Haney.

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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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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 306.

Chael Sonnen justifies Sean O’Malley getting immediate title rematch because he ‘moves the needle’

Chael Sonnen makes a case for Sean O’Malley to get an immediate title rematch.

[autotag]Chael Sonnen[/autotag] makes a case for [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] to get an immediate title rematch.

O’Malley (18-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) lost his bantamweight title to Merab Dvalishvili (18-4 MMA, 11-2 UFC) by unanimous decision in the UFC 306 main event at Sphere in Las Vegas.

Dvalishvili has two contenders in Umar Nurmagomedov and Deiveson Figueiredo vying for a title shot, but Sonnen argues that O’Malley is worthy of a rematch.

He explains the logic behind his argument, pointing to other stars that have gotten that treatment.

“The very first option is the champion that drops the belt gets a rematch for his belt,” Sonnen said on his YouTube channel. “It was a respect that was shown to every single great champion. And by great champion, I’m talking about champions that could also move the needle. All of them were offered rematches, from Conor (McGregor) on down – more recently, Israel Adesanya. Right into it, I’m sharing with you: All the greats except Sean.”

Although it was widely considered a dominant win for Dvalishvili, O’Malley is convinced he won the fight. Upon rewatching the bout, Sonnen sees where O’Malley is coming from.

“Motivation could largely be based upon opportunities – of which I didn’t see any add, I only saw him taken away,” Sonnen said. “I’m just sharing – that is what I saw. But now you’ve got Merab, you’ve got Nurmagomedov, and you’ve got Figueiredo, and they can’t seem to quite figure it out.

“Well, there’s also a final option that should’ve come in front of all of them which is if there’s controversy, we look at a rematch. There’s controversy, go see Rounds 1, 3 and 5. Watch that without commentating. Come back and tell me you don’t see controversy.”

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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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Tim Welch clarifies Round 5 message to Sean O’Malley at UFC 306: ‘It came out the wrong way’

Tim Welch shared some words with Sean O’Malley toward end of his fight with Merab Dvalishvili but meant something else, he said.

Coach [autotag]Tim Welch[/autotag] has received plenty of criticism for how he handled [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag]’s corner at UFC 306.

O’Malley (18-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) lost his bantamweight title by unanimous decision to Merab Dvalishvili (18-4 MMA, 11-2 UFC) in this past Saturday’s main event at Sphere in Las Vegas. Dvalishvili’s coach, UFC Hall of Famer Matt Serra, thinks Welch showed no sense of urgency with his fighter being down big in the final five minutes of the fight. Welch addressed the backlash and clarified what he meant when he was heard telling O’Malley “we are almost done with this” in the fifth round.

“It came out the wrong way. I meant to say ‘we’re almost done with this,’ like ‘you’re going to clip him at any time,'” Welch told ESPN. “But also, I’ve known Sean for 12 years. I know what’s going through his mind and keeping him confident. I always forget those cameras are rolling on my mic and stuff. I want to keep his head in it. It sounded way worse than it actually was. I just meant to say, ‘This fight is almost over. We’re almost done with this, you can clip him at any point.’ But it came out the wrong way and sounded stupid.”

O’Malley is set to undergo surgery Oct. 3 to repair a torn labrum in his left hip, which he suffered 10 weeks prior to his fight with Dvalishvili. Welch expects a motivated O’Malley in his return and doesn’t think they’re short of big opportunities.

“It’s just a perfect time to practice what we preach all the time,” Welch said. “I’ve been around fighting a long time. I know eventually you’re probably going to lose. If you keep fighting the best people on planet Earth in your weight class, eventually you’re going to lose.

“I just think every fight for Sean is going to be a big fight. The build-up is going to be big, he’s just such a showman, and I think it’ll be similar to, like every fight Nate Diaz is in is a big fight. Every fight Jorge Masvidal is in is a big fight. So, I think it’ll be similar for Sean, and I think right now it’s really going to light a fire under him.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 306.

Cory Sandhagen says Deiveson Figueiredo turned him down: ‘Maybe he wants to take the easier fights’

Cory Sandhagen thought Deiveson Figueiredo “was a little bit more about that life” and is surprised he declined to fight him.

According to [autotag]Cory Sandhagen[/autotag], a top UFC bantamweight contender declined to fight him.

Sandhagen, who’s coming off a main event loss to Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC on ABC 7 in August, said the UFC tried to match him up with [autotag]Deiveson Figueiredo[/autotag] (24-3-1 MMA, 13-3-1 UFC) at the end of the year.

“Figgy turned down the fight against me in September, which is just kind of whack because I thought that Figgy was a little bit more about that life than that,” Sandhagen said on his YouTube channel. “I’m kind of actually hurt that Figgy doesn’t want to fight me in December, but maybe he wants to take the easier fights. I don’t know what that dude’s plan is.”

Sandhagen (17-5 MMA, 10-4 UFC) initially campaigned to fight Sean O’Malley (18-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC) after he lost his bantamweight title to Merab Dvalishvili (18-4 MMA, 11-2 UFC) by unanimous decision in this past Saturday’s UFC 306 main event at Sphere in Las Vegas.

But upon hearing that O’Malley is set to undergo surgery Oct. 3 for a torn labrum in his hip, he’s a little disappointed.

“It’s really a bummer, man, because I was really hoping to get that fight one, and then two, the fans get really excited about fights like that, and that’s just a bummer that they don’t get to have that fight right now at least,” Sandhagen told Fanatics View. “But even in the future, you never really know what’s going to happen. It kind of reminds me of three or four years ago when people were really trying to hype up a me and Dominick Cruz fight.

“Cruz just never ended up taking the fight. He had other opportunities, and he took those ones. That’s just a bummer. I hope that’s not the case with this one and that the fans eventually get to watch me and O’Malley fight. … I’m not going to wait until the summer for O’Malley. No way. I like fighting. I was just out for an entire year. I really wanted to get something in December, but I think it’s realistically going to be a bit longer than that.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 306.

Matt Serra blasts Sean O’Malley coach Tim Welch for ‘sh*t’ cornerwork at UFC 306: ‘He exposed himself’

Sean O’Malley struggled against Merab Dvalishvili, and “Tim Welch had no answers for his fighter,” according to Matt Serra.

UFC Hall of Famer [autotag]Matt Serra[/autotag] doesn’t think [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag]’s corner showed a sense of urgency at UFC 306.

O’Malley (18-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) was outgrappled in a unanimous decision loss to Merab Dvalishvili (18-4 MMA, 11-2 UFC) in last Saturday’s title-fight headliner at Sphere in Las Vegas. Heading into Round 5, O’Malley was down four rounds on one of the judges’ scorecards and 3-1 on the other two. Serra, who is one of Dvalishvili’s coaches, criticized Welch for not lighting a fire under O’Malley when he was clearly losing the fight.

“This fight exposed him as a coach because when your guy is winning and knocking people out, sure, you look like a f*cking hero,” Serra said on “UFC Unfiltered.” “When your fighter is obviously losing the fight and he starts losing rounds, Tim Welch was, like, not wanting to hurt his feelings.

“‘OK, good round.’ No, you’re losing f*cking three rounds! You’ve got to get in his ass. You’ve got to say – he was afraid that he did not know how to handle his guy on that many rounds. And I thought his f*cking cornerwork was sh*t. So, he exposed himself. You (Dvalishvili) took care of business, and Tim Welch had no answers for his fighter.”

O’Malley later revealed that he tore the labrum in his left hip 10 weeks prior to his fight with Dvalishvili. He will undergo surgery on Oct. 3.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 306.