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Can Sean O'Malley continue his dominance as champion, or will Merab Dvalishvili fulfill his promise as the unstoppable force at bantamweight? Find out the answer to this question and more on Fight IQ
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Quick end to title reign
O'Malley dropped the UFC Bantamweight Championship on Saturday, falling to Merab Dvalishvili via unanimous decision (46-49, 47-48, 47-48) at UFC 306 in Las Vegas.
ANALYSIS
In the hours leading up to the fight, O'Malley went from a -140 favorite to a +105 underdog. As always, Vegas knows all. Merab was viewed by many as a terrible stylistic matchup for the now-former champion, and that proved to be exactly the case. Sean was constantly moving backwards in an attempt to ward off takedown attempts, and that limited his ability to land both power shots and volume. He allowed Dvalishvili to land 6-of-15 attempts, good for 10:03 worth of control time. O'Malley did manage to damage Merab late with a body kick, but was unable to follow up with any additional blows. None of this is to take anything away from Sean, but styles make fights, and a high-level grappler always figured to be O'Malley's kryptonite. Set to turn 30 years of age in late October, "Suga" Sean will be back, but this one stings.
In the hours leading up to the fight, O'Malley went from a -140 favorite to a +105 underdog. As always, Vegas knows all. Merab was viewed by many as a terrible stylistic matchup for the now-former champion, and that proved to be exactly the case. Sean was constantly moving backwards in an attempt to ward off takedown attempts, and that limited his ability to land both power shots and volume. He allowed Dvalishvili to land 6-of-15 attempts, good for 10:03 worth of control time. O'Malley did manage to damage Merab late with a body kick, but was unable to follow up with any additional blows. None of this is to take anything away from Sean, but styles make fights, and a high-level grappler always figured to be O'Malley's kryptonite. Set to turn 30 years of age in late October, "Suga" Sean will be back, but this one stings.
Tabbed to face Dvalishvili
O'Malley (undisclosed) will face Merab Dvalishvili in a bantamweight fight in UFC Noche at Sphere in Las Vegas on Sep. 14.
ANALYSIS
O'Malley successfully defended his UFC Bantamweight Championship against Marlon Vera in March this year, but the Florida Athletic Commission later suspended him after he sustained an injury. It seems the title holder is now healthy and ready to defend his belt once again, though facing Dvalishvili is a tougher challenge than Vera -- and by a wide margin. This fight was in the books for a while now, and O'Malley will have to be at his best if he wants to defeat one of the most in-form fighters in the world.
O'Malley successfully defended his UFC Bantamweight Championship against Marlon Vera in March this year, but the Florida Athletic Commission later suspended him after he sustained an injury. It seems the title holder is now healthy and ready to defend his belt once again, though facing Dvalishvili is a tougher challenge than Vera -- and by a wide margin. This fight was in the books for a while now, and O'Malley will have to be at his best if he wants to defeat one of the most in-form fighters in the world.
Given medical suspension
O'Malley has been suspended indefinitely by the Florida Athletic Commission pending independent clearance from an orthopedic physician, MMAJunkie.com reports.
ANALYSIS
The commission didn't specify exactly what injury O'Malley sustained in the five-round fight, though multiple accounts did notice the bantamweight champion in a walking boot following his UFC 299 title defense against Marlon Vera. O'Malley said after the fight that he hopes to move up to 145 pounds to face featherweight champion Ilia Topuria in Spain, but the "Sugar Show" will likely have to wait until roughly the fall to step back into the cage.
The commission didn't specify exactly what injury O'Malley sustained in the five-round fight, though multiple accounts did notice the bantamweight champion in a walking boot following his UFC 299 title defense against Marlon Vera. O'Malley said after the fight that he hopes to move up to 145 pounds to face featherweight champion Ilia Topuria in Spain, but the "Sugar Show" will likely have to wait until roughly the fall to step back into the cage.
Cruises in first title defense
O'Malley successfully defended his UFC Bantamweight Championship on Saturday, defeating Marlon Vera via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-44) at UFC 299 in Miami.
ANALYSIS
Easy work. Making his first title defense, O'Malley dominated from start to finish, getting revenge on Vera for their August 2020 matchup in which Chito won via TKO after Sean suffered a foot injury. Any opponent that faces O'Malley simply cannot employ the game plan Vera did here. Sean is a truly exceptional striker with elite footwork and placement of his shots. Trying to outpoint him in a kickboxing match is literally never going to work. You have to either wrestle him -- which Vera never attempted -- or muck it up in an attempt to make things ugly, which Marlon didn't do enough of. O'Malley called for new UFC Featherweight Champion Ilia Topuria in his post-fight interview. While that would make for great television, by far the most likely outcome is that Suga's next fight is a title defense against nemesis Merab Dvalishvili. One thing we know about Merab is that he will never stop going for takedowns, so O'Malley would have to be prepared for a completely different type of opponent than he saw this evening.
Easy work. Making his first title defense, O'Malley dominated from start to finish, getting revenge on Vera for their August 2020 matchup in which Chito won via TKO after Sean suffered a foot injury. Any opponent that faces O'Malley simply cannot employ the game plan Vera did here. Sean is a truly exceptional striker with elite footwork and placement of his shots. Trying to outpoint him in a kickboxing match is literally never going to work. You have to either wrestle him -- which Vera never attempted -- or muck it up in an attempt to make things ugly, which Marlon didn't do enough of. O'Malley called for new UFC Featherweight Champion Ilia Topuria in his post-fight interview. While that would make for great television, by far the most likely outcome is that Suga's next fight is a title defense against nemesis Merab Dvalishvili. One thing we know about Merab is that he will never stop going for takedowns, so O'Malley would have to be prepared for a completely different type of opponent than he saw this evening.
Books matchup with Marlon Vera
O'Malley will defend his UFC Bantamweight Championship against Marlon Vera at UFC 299 in Miami on March 9 Marcel Dorff of Eurosport.nl reports.
ANALYSIS
O'Malley will look to enact revenge on Vera, who defeated him via TKO back in 2020. Since that fight, O'Malley has gone 5-0 (1 NC), a stretch that culminated with him winning the UFC Bantamweight Championship over Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292. Vera has held up relatively well in his own right, so the company had no problem scheduling what is expected to be a tensely built rematch between these two down the line.
O'Malley will look to enact revenge on Vera, who defeated him via TKO back in 2020. Since that fight, O'Malley has gone 5-0 (1 NC), a stretch that culminated with him winning the UFC Bantamweight Championship over Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292. Vera has held up relatively well in his own right, so the company had no problem scheduling what is expected to be a tensely built rematch between these two down the line.