Merab Dvalishvili ran through Sean O’Malley, and nearly O’Malley’s coach, en route to becoming UFC bantamweight champion.
Dvalishvili lived up to his “Machine” moniker, using his relentless wrestling to close the show at the Sphere in Las Vegas on Saturday night at UFC 306.
The fight started chaotically with Dvalishvili approaching and yelling at O’Malley’s head coach Tim Welch. Referee Herb Dean intervened, telling Dvalishvili to focus on O’Malley. Dean warned Welch about an “excessive coaching” rule with the UFC commentators suggesting Welch may have attempted to mislead Dvalishvili by acting as his corner.
The bizarreness continued into Round 2. O’Malley was warned for illegally grabbing inside Dvalishvili’s glove while attempting an armbar. Dvalishvili attempted a guillotine choke late in the round but was warned by Dean for repeatedly kissing O’Malley’s back. Dvalishvili let go of the submission and walked away from O’Malley with several seconds left, allowing O’Malley to land a pair of legal sucker punches. Dean told Dvalsihvili, “That was your fault.”
Dvalishvili’s nonstop wrestling got the better of O’Malley, winning four rounds on one judge’s scorecard and three rounds from the other two judges for a unanimous decision. Round 3 was a swing round due to O’Malley’s late flurry of strikes, and the former champ had his strongest showing in Round 5 after hurting Dvalishvili to the body. Ultimately, Dvalishvili endured.
“I feel like I’m in a dream…” Dvalishvili said in his post-fight interview. “I know O’Malley is good but I made him look normal.”
Dvalishvili improved to 17-4, improving his winning streak to 11. O’Malley dropped to 18-2, 1 NC and suffered his first loss since 2020.
Elsewhere on the card, Diego Lopes battered Brian Ortega and left him a bloody mess by the end of three rounds to move up the featherweight rankings. Lopes and Ortega were scheduled to fight at UFC 303 before Ortega fell ill on fight night and was forced to withdraw. Lopes picked up his third win of the year and moved himself closer to a title shot. Plus, Esteban Ribovics and Daniel Zellhuber delivered an epic battle that may become a Fight of the Year contender as both men laid it all on the line in scoring multiple knockdowns — including a dramatic third round where both men were nearly stopped.
CBS Sports was with you the entire way on Saturday bringing you all the results and highlights from the UFC 306 below.
UFC 306 card, results
- Merab Dvalishvili def. Sean O’Malley (c) via unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 48-47)
- Valentina Shevchenko def. Alexa Grasso (c) via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45)
- Diego Lopes def Brian Ortega via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
- Esteban Ribovics def. Daniel Zellhuber via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Ronaldo Rodriguez def. Ode Osbourne via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-27, 29-27)
- Norma Dumont def. Irene Aldana via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Igancio Bahamondes def. Manuel Torres via first-round knockout (punches)
- Ketlen Souza def. Yazmin Jauregui via first-round submission (rear naked choke)
- Joshua Van def. Edgar Chairez via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Raul Rosas Jr. def. Aoriqileng via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Read the full article here
