Tag: UFC 306

Sean O’Malley’s Coach Reveals What He Said To Enrage Merab Dvalishvili At Noche UFC 306

Merab Dvalishvili captured the UFC bantamweight championship at Noche UFC 306, and while it was a dominant performance, it also came with one of the most bizarre openings to a fight in recent memory. In the opening seconds, Dvalishvili could be seen mouthing off, but it wasn’t to opponent O’Malley. Rather, the Georgian challenger appeared […]

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Merab Dvalishvili captured the UFC bantamweight championship at Noche UFC 306, and while it was a dominant performance, it also came with one of the most bizarre openings to a fight in recent memory.

In the opening seconds, Dvalishvili could be seen mouthing off, but it wasn’t to opponent O’Malley. Rather, the Georgian challenger appeared to be in an argument with the champion’s corner, particularly his coach Tim Welch.

Referee Herb Dean brought a swift halt to the bout to warn Dvalishvili for talking to O’Malley’s corner. Dean also gave a warning to Welch for what commentators referred to as “excessive coaching.” Dean would warn O’Malley’s corner later on in the fight.

The bizarre nature of the pause left many fans confused and looking for clarification. This came especially when the UFC commentary team mentioned that O’Malley’s corner may have initiated the conversation with the title challenger.

On social media the following day, Welch provided clarification on what he was saying.

Tim Welch Reveals What He Told Merab Dvalishvili, Tips His Cap To The New Bantamweight Champion

This is not the first time O’Malley’s corner has been at the center of controversy for talking with a fighter.

As shown by the UFC documentary on Roku earlier this year, O’Malley’s corner appeared to communicate with Aljamain Sterling when O’Malley challenged him for the bantamweight title in the main event of UFC 292. “Sugar” to connect with Sterling not long after and finished the fight from there.

On this occasion, O’Malley struggled with the grappling expertise of Dvalishvili, Sterling’s friend and teammate, as he was taken down several times and nearly submitted in a unanimous decision.

O’Malley had successfully defended the title just once, defeating longtime rival Marlon “Chito” Vera at UFC 299.

Dvalishvili, meanwhile, has now won 11 straight fights inside the Octagon.

Continue Reading Sean O’Malley’s Coach Reveals What He Said To Enrage Merab Dvalishvili At Noche UFC 306 at MMA News.

Sean O’Malley Makes Statement Following Title Loss To Merab Dvalishvili At Noche UFC 306

It would not be far off to say that the performance of Sean O’Malley at Noche UFC (UFC 306) was perhaps the worst he’s ever had in the Octagon — and it ultimately cost him the UFC bantamweight championship. O’Malley appeared to struggle with the pressure and takedowns brought on by Merab Dvalishvili as the […]

Continue Reading Sean O’Malley Makes Statement Following Title Loss To Merab Dvalishvili At Noche UFC 306 at MMA News.

It would not be far off to say that the performance of Sean O’Malley at Noche UFC (UFC 306) was perhaps the worst he’s ever had in the Octagon — and it ultimately cost him the UFC bantamweight championship.

O’Malley appeared to struggle with the pressure and takedowns brought on by Merab Dvalishvili as the two faced off in the main event at the Sphere. Though “Suga” gave the Georgian some trouble in the fight’s final round, Dvalishvili ended up scoring a unanimous decision to win the title.

Not long after the loss, O’Malley made a brief statement on social media, noting the disappointment left in his performance and the result.

“Over promised under delivered. Sorry. Love you guys,” O’Malley wrote.

Sean O’Malley Admits Bad Night, Dana White Says He Looked ‘Flat’

Though there were bizarre circumstances at the start of the fight, the opening rounds saw Dvalishvili make a statement with several takedowns and a couple of guillotine attempts that troubled O’Malley. The defending champ landed the fight’s strongest strikes toward the end of the third round, but that was after another four minutes of grappling masterclass from the Georgian.

Several front kicks to the midsection left Dvalishvili hurt and in danger in the fifth round, but O’Malley did not turn up the intensity, and it was too little, too late.

Even UFC CEO Dana White noted the poor performance from O’Malley, saying he looked “flat.”

“He didn’t look sharp. He didn’t look crisp,” White said at the UFC 306 post-fight press conference.

Dvalishvili has now won 11 straight fights after dropping his first two Octagon outings. He also gained an ounce of revenge for his teammate and good friend Aljamain Sterling, who O’Malley knocked out at UFC 292 to capture the bantamweight gold.

O’Malley retained the title once, defeating Marlon “Chito” Vera at UFC 299 in March.

Continue Reading Sean O’Malley Makes Statement Following Title Loss To Merab Dvalishvili At Noche UFC 306 at MMA News.

Sean O’Malley Let Dana White Down with ‘Flat’ Performance at UFC 306

Sean O'Malley Dana WhiteSean O’Malley has not only lost his UFC bantamweight title but also let down the man who runs the…

Sean O'Malley Dana White

Sean O’Malley has not only lost his UFC bantamweight title but also let down the man who runs the show: UFC president Dana White.

Sean O’Malley

Before the fight with Merab Dvalishvili, O’Malley promised an extravagant first-round knockout. He even went so far as to say that Dvalishvili could sleep with his wife if O’Malley failed to knock him out. Now, ‘Suga’ is licking his wounds and nursing his injured pride after suffering a loss via unanimous decision at UFC 306.

Furthermore, Dana White was very vocal about his former champion’s performance and admitted to being pretty disappointed in his young star.

Dana White opens up about Sean O’Malley’s performance at UFC 306

“He looked flat,” Dana White said at the post-fight press conference, speaking on O’Malley’s performance (H/T MMA Fighting). “He didn’t look sharp.”

In fact, ‘Suga’ struggled to land any significant damage in the fight, and it wasn’t until the end of the last round that he finally had a compelling moment. O’Malley landed a beautiful front kick on Dvalishvili’s body and hurt his opponent. Unfortunately, ‘Suga’ failed to capitalize on the moment and finish the fight. The horn would eventually sound, and the fight was over. Dvalishvili would capture his first-ever title with scores of 49-46, 48-47, and 48-47 to land the unanimous decision victory.

“He didn’t look crisp until the last round,” White continued. “He hurt him with that body shot, and he knew he hurt him with the body shot, and he kept going in trying to finish. But I looked at the punch stats; it was like six in a couple of the rounds.”

UFC 306

At the end of the day, the tenacity of Merab Dvalishvili was just too much for Sean O’Malley. ‘Suga’ could never get rolling offensively because he was forced to constantly fend off the takedown or was too busy being controlled.

Now, Sean O’Malley has nothing left to do other than take time and start launching a comeback to reclaim his lost UFC bantamweight title.

Sean O’Malley Let Dana White Down with ‘Flat’ Performance at UFC 306

Sean O'Malley Dana WhiteSean O’Malley has not only lost his UFC bantamweight title but also let down the man who runs the…

Sean O'Malley Dana White

Sean O’Malley has not only lost his UFC bantamweight title but also let down the man who runs the show: UFC president Dana White.

Sean O’Malley

Before the fight with Merab Dvalishvili, O’Malley promised an extravagant first-round knockout. He even went so far as to say that Dvalishvili could sleep with his wife if O’Malley failed to knock him out. Now, ‘Suga’ is licking his wounds and nursing his injured pride after suffering a loss via unanimous decision at UFC 306.

Furthermore, Dana White was very vocal about his former champion’s performance and admitted to being pretty disappointed in his young star.

Dana White opens up about Sean O’Malley’s performance at UFC 306

“He looked flat,” Dana White said at the post-fight press conference, speaking on O’Malley’s performance (H/T MMA Fighting). “He didn’t look sharp.”

In fact, ‘Suga’ struggled to land any significant damage in the fight, and it wasn’t until the end of the last round that he finally had a compelling moment. O’Malley landed a beautiful front kick on Dvalishvili’s body and hurt his opponent. Unfortunately, ‘Suga’ failed to capitalize on the moment and finish the fight. The horn would eventually sound, and the fight was over. Dvalishvili would capture his first-ever title with scores of 49-46, 48-47, and 48-47 to land the unanimous decision victory.

“He didn’t look crisp until the last round,” White continued. “He hurt him with that body shot, and he knew he hurt him with the body shot, and he kept going in trying to finish. But I looked at the punch stats; it was like six in a couple of the rounds.”

UFC 306

At the end of the day, the tenacity of Merab Dvalishvili was just too much for Sean O’Malley. ‘Suga’ could never get rolling offensively because he was forced to constantly fend off the takedown or was too busy being controlled.

Now, Sean O’Malley has nothing left to do other than take time and start launching a comeback to reclaim his lost UFC bantamweight title.

Former UFC Champ Describes Brian Ortega’s ‘Moral Kind Of Victory’ Against Diego Lopes At UFC 306

Diego Lopes beat Brian Ortega via decision at UFC 306 to rise to the top ranks of the UFC featherweight division. He almost secured a finish in the first, but unsurprisingly, Ortega showed unbelievable toughness and survived until the final bell. Lopes earned a takedown and controlled Ortega for nearly three minutes while the latter […]

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Diego Lopes beat Brian Ortega via decision at UFC 306 to rise to the top ranks of the UFC featherweight division. He almost secured a finish in the first, but unsurprisingly, Ortega showed unbelievable toughness and survived until the final bell.

Lopes earned a takedown and controlled Ortega for nearly three minutes while the latter struggled to get going throughout the fight. The prospect outstruck the former title challenger and fans are excited to see him face the likes of Max Holloway or Ilia Topuria for UFC featherweight gold.

Lopes is the new talk of the town after his dominant win, but former UFC champ Michael Bisping has found a silver lining for Ortega as well…

Michael Bisping Explains Why Diego Lopes Couldn’t Finish Brian Ortega At UFC 306

Bisping heavily appreciated Lopes for getting the better of Ortega at UFC 306 while reacting to the event on his YouTube channel. However, he believes that losing via decision is better for the veteran than being finished.

“Lopes, was kind of, he wanted to test his ground game. He wanted to send a message, he wanted to choke him out, and beat Brian Ortega at his own game. Because of that, he kind of allowed Brian to get back into the fight and see the final bell. There’s a moral kind of victory if you’re Brian Ortega and you see the final bell. Trust me, as a fighter, you want to lose by decision rather than getting finished. And there were finishes multiple times for Diego Lopes.”

“The Count” explained that trying to submit Ortega on the ground worked against Lopes. “T-City” used his experience to get a guard quickly and rejuvenate himself.

Bisping had an interesting theory about the knockdown in the first too. He claimed that the right hand knocked Ortega out and the left hook pushed him back to his senses. The former UFC champ feels the fight could have been stopped early if the Brazilian fighter stuck to striking.

Although he couldn’t get a finish, Lopes’ stock is higher than ever. He can either fight another top-ranked contender in a title eliminator or get the opportunity to grab the UFC featherweight title next.

Continue Reading Former UFC Champ Describes Brian Ortega’s ‘Moral Kind Of Victory’ Against Diego Lopes At UFC 306 at MMA News.

Merab Dvalishvili Reveals The Reason Why He Kissed Sean O’Malley in UFC 306 Main Event

Merab Dvalishvili, Sean O'MalleyNewly-crowned UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili decided to kiss Sean O’Malley’s back mid-scramble in their UFC 306 main event….

Merab Dvalishvili, Sean O'Malley

Newly-crowned UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili decided to kiss Sean O’Malley’s back mid-scramble in their UFC 306 main event.

Merab Dvalishvili

Dvalishvili defeated O’Malley to earn the UFC bantamweight title at UFC 306 on Saturday in Las Vegas. He capped off a long unbeaten streak in the Octagon with a title victory in a mostly dominant performance against O’Malley.

UFC 306

Dvalishvili’s win featured a bizarre moment at the end of the second round. About 10 seconds before the round’s conclusion, Dvalishvili repeatedly kissed O’Malley’s back mid-scramble, before nearly taking a knockout blow from O’Malley at the buzzer.

Merab Dvalishvili explains strange mid-fight moment at UFC 306

At the UFC 306 post-fight press conference, Dvalishvili explained the bizarre mid-fight moment.

Merab Dvalishvili Kisses Sean O’Malley

“So I grab his neck and he has 10 seconds left,” Dvalishvili said. “I know he can wait and he’s not going to sleep or tap from this and I wanted to make just a little fun of him and make him—I don’t hate the guy, just make fun of him, but at same time, give him a little kiss to show that I’m dominant. I control this fight, I break you. That’s why I was kissing him…

“But I had too much fun there and I guess I [lost track of time], but when I let go, he followed me and he punched the back of my head and I protect myself again. I said, ‘Referee, again, I’m sorry, referee. I’m sorry.” (h/t MMA Fighting)

Dvalishvili is no stranger to odd moments in the middle of his fights. During his UFC 298 win over Henry Cejudo, he attempted to have a conversation with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg as he sat cageside.

Dvalishvili will likely face the undefeated Umar Nurmagomedov for his first title defense. Umar, the cousin of UFC Hall of Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov, defeated Cory Sandhagen last month.

As Dvalishvili begins his bantamweight title reign, it’s safe to say that fans should expect the unexpected with the Georgian.