The bantamweight title changed hands at UFC 306 at the Sphere in Las Vegas last Saturday. Merab Dvalishvili defeated Sean O’Malley to capture the 135-pound championship via unanimous decision.
Dvalishvili’s relentless pressure and grappling ability stifled O’Malley’s ability to mount an effective offense. In the final round, O’Malley had success with teep kicks to the body and hurt Dvalishvili with them. It was too little too late however.
On Monday, O’Malley spoke about the loss to Dvalishvili on his YouTube channel and made no excuses. UFC CEO Dana White said that O’Malley looked ‘flat’ in the fight during the event’s post-fight press conference, but O’Malley disagreed.
“Great fight week. Best weight cut. I felt good. No excuses,” O’Malley said. “People, my mom too. She was like, ‘You just weren’t the same. What was wrong?’ I was like, ‘nothing. I just got beat.’ There was nothing.
“Everyone keeps asking me that. They’re like, ‘something seemed off. Something seemed different. You were flatfooted.’ I was like, ‘There was nothing. Zero excuses,” O’Malley continued. “I had a good fight camp. I had a good weight cut.”
Dvalishvili made 15 takedown attempts throughout the fight and successfully got O’Malley down six times. In those positions, O’Malley felt out powered by “The Machine.”
“I felt like I got out strengthed. Like, I knew what to do in certain positions. I just felt like he was just stronger,” O’Malley said. “I didn’t feel too out skilled, out speed. I felt cardio was good.”
“He’s on an 11-fight win streak. His last four fights were former champions. The dude is f**king good. Super skilled,” O’Malley continued. “I know I can beat him… He beat me on the day that mattered, so that’s the one that matters. It is what it is.”
https://www.mmaweekly.com/news/sean-omalley-makes-no-excuse-for-ufc-306-loss-to-merab-dvalishvili-i-just-got-beat
