Sean O’Malley appears to be stuck on the first stage of grief following his decisive loss to Merab Dvalishvili.
This past weekend, ‘Sugar’ offered up a lackluster showing in his second bantamweight title defense of 2024. As a result, he came up short on all three judge’s scorecards and subsequently surrendered the 135-pound strap to ‘The Machine’ following the uneventful UFC 306 headliner.
Initially, O’Malley accepted the loss and offered no excuses for the defeat. Now, the ex-titleholder is backtracking on his prior comments via a series of posts on social media while rewatching the fight.
Round 1. I won that round 100%!! Based on damage that’s my round.
— Sean O'Malley (@SugaSeanMMA) September 19, 2024
Round 2 def lost. Took very little damage tho
— Sean O'Malley (@SugaSeanMMA) September 19, 2024
Round 3 was closer than round 1 in my opinion. My round.
Up 2-1 going into round 4— Sean O'Malley (@SugaSeanMMA) September 19, 2024
Round 4 Merabs round for sure. 2-2 going into the 5th
— Sean O'Malley (@SugaSeanMMA) September 19, 2024
Round 5 I won .
I am the champ. God is good. 1,3,5 round I won.
Defending belt against Umar in Vegas June/July.— Sean O'Malley (@SugaSeanMMA) September 19, 2024
Plzzzz @espn @ufc repost the fight . 1,3,5
— Sean O'Malley (@SugaSeanMMA) September 19, 2024
Initially, it almost seemed like O’Malley was simply trolling fight fans, but ‘Sugar’ doubled down on his comments via a post on X Spaces that further explained his stance.
“I had not rewatched the fight, because the narrative around this f*cking fight was I got my ass whooped,” O’Malley said. “… I won the first, third, and fifth rounds, and I challenge all you f*cking little dorks that think that I got my ass kicked to go and rewatch that fight… Rewatch that fight, whether you hate me or love me, rewatch the 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! I’m the champ! Where’s my belt?! Get that belt out my suitcase! I’m the champ, baby!… Merab is a bitch still! I had him running around, holding his f*cking little gut. The champ is here! The champ is here! Go rewatch that fight. 135 bantamweight champion of the world is still here. F*ck Merab! Let’s go!
“But for real, Round 3 was close. Round 3 and 5, two judges gave it to me. Round 1, in my opinion, was clearly my round. Round 3 was a closer round, I still think it was my round. Round 1, I don’t know how they gave it to Merab. Just look at the stat sheet, he took me down a few times but literally did no damage. Come on now, tell me I’m wrong! Round 1, 3, and 5. I won that fight. It’s as simple as that.”
Sean O’Malley Doesn’t Want to See ‘Borin’ Merab Dvalishvili as Bantamweight Champion
With the loss, O’Malley fell to 10-2 inside the Octagon, no matter how much he boasts himself as undefeated.
Though he didn’t use it as an excuse for his flat-footed showing at Sphere in Las Vegas, ‘Sugar’ revealed following the fight that he suffered a torn labrum 10 weeks out from fight night. O’Malley is scheduled to undergo surgery on October 3 and is expected to be out of commission for the next 6-8 months, if not longer.
In the meantime, the bantamweight division will move on with Merab Dvalishvili expected to defend his title against No. 2 ranked contender Umar Nurmagomedov.
“Please, I’m telling you guys, you can’t have Merab as champ,” O’Malley added. “He’s boring as f*ck. I just rewatched the fight. I tried to make it as unboring as possible. I tried getting up, defending — I actually stuffed more takedowns than Henry Cejudo… I had Merab literally holding his [stomach], running, sprinting from me, holding his f*cking guts, praying the fight was over, staring at the clock. Round 1, 3, and 5! The champ is here!”
