Merab Dvalishvili Grapples the Bantamweight Title Away From Sean O’Malley – Noche UFC Results (Highlights)

Dvalishvili left Las Vegas with the 135-pound title after delivering a dominant performance against O'Malley.

Written by Craig Pekios
Last updated on September 15th, 2024
Sean O Malley Vs Merab Dvalishvili Noche Ufc Results Highlights
Courtesy of @UFCNews on X

‘Sugar’ Sean O’Malley returned to the Octagon on Saturday night determined to defend his bantamweight title for a second time in 2024. 

Following a decisive decision victory over Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera in March, the reigning 135-pound king faced his toughest test yet, squaring off against the division’s top-ranked contender, Merab Dvalishvili. ‘The Machine’ went into his first shot at UFC gold riding a 10-fight win streak, including big victories over Jose Aldo, Petr Yan, and Henry Cejudo.

Round 1 

Dvalishvili comes out and immediately gets warned by referee Herb Dean for talking to O’Malley’s coach Tim Welch outside the Octagon. As the fight gets underway, Dvalishvili offers a couple of high kicks early. Dvalishvili starts to put on some pressure. Strangely, Dean issues another warning, this time to Welch who was being accused of shouting instructions to Dvalishvili. O’Malley tries to get his offense going, firing to the body before unleashing a solid jab. O’Malley lands another solid shot. 

Three minutes into the fight, Dvalishvili shoots in for his first takedown attempt and gets it without much resistance. O’Malley fights his way back up but eats some shots from Dvalishvili in the process. As O’Malley tries to wall walk, he eats a few knees but ultimately breaks the grip and separates. 

Dvalishvili lands a nice right hand and then goes right in for a takedown. Dvalishvili gets a hold of O’Malley’s neck and teases a guillotine before giving it up in favor of control. O’Malley gets back up again, but Dvalishvili makes him pay with a left hook on the break. O’Malley offers up a wheel kick as the round comes to an end. 

Round 2

Dvalishvili opens up the second with a body kick. O’Malley is looking to land, but Dvalishvili is constantly moving, keeping ‘Sugar’ from hitting the target. O’Malley swings big with the right hand and Dvalishvili brilliantly ducks under and immediately takes the champ down to the canvas with three minutes to go in the round. 

O’Malley closes his guard to try and control the posturing of Dvalishvili. ‘The Machine’ breaks through and looks to land some ground-and-pound strikes. O’Malley goes to the rubber guard and is fishing for an arm bar. As O’Malley attempted the cinch it in, referee Herb Dean stopped the action and warned O’Malley who blatantly grabbed the inside of Dvalishvili’s glove. The action resumes with Dvalishvili still on top and the challenger lands a nice right hand. 

O’Malley rolls to his back and Dvalishvili begins beating on him as ‘Sugar’ desperately tries to muscle his way back up. Each time O’Malley gets back to his feet, Dvalishvili punishes him with some digging knees to the thigh. While he has O’Malley down, Dvalishvili begins to playfully kiss his back. Dvalishvili lets O’Malley up, but with a couple of ticks still left on the clock, O’Malley tries to land a right hand on Dvalishvili while the challenger’s back is turned. 

Round 3

Dvalishvili continues to stay mobile and O’Malley attacks the body with a kick to the midsection. Dvalishvili tries to land a right hand but misses the mark. Dvalishvili shoots in for a takedown and eventually gets it against the fence, landing a nasty knee in the process. Dvalishvili lands a couple more knees to O’Malley’s face as the champ works his way back up. O’Malley fights through and separates from Dvalishvili. 

Dvalishvili moves in for another takedown and O’Malley nearly catches him with a knee. Dvalishvili grabs a hold of O’Malley’s leg and attempts to make him pay with a looping right hand. Dvalishvili lands a couple of leg kicks before teasing another takedown attempt. Dvalishvili spams the lead leg attack and O’Malley makes him pay with a left. 

O’Malley stuffs another takedown attempt from Dvalishvili and lands a right hand with 30 seconds to go. O’Malley closes the round landing a lead left followed by a glancing knee. 

Round 4

O’Malley starts things off with a couple of shots to the body of Dvalishvili. O’Malley lands a right hand and stings ‘The Machine’ with a right. That encourages Dvalishvili to shoot in for a takedown and easily works O’Malley to the mat. Dvalishvili appears to be bleeding from the blow O’Malley landed seconds before. Dvalishvili is peppering O’Malley with some body shots on the ground. 

O’Malley attempts to kick Dvalishvili off, but that allows the Georgian to get into side control. O’Malley scrambles back into half-guard. Dvalishvili drops some hammer fists and O’Malley gives up his back in an attempt to get up. O’Malley finally climbs back to his feet, but Dvalishvili keeps ahold of his waist while dragging him to the fence. Dvalishvili lands some knees which brings O’Malley back to the mat. 

Dvalishvili moves into mount and unleashes some nasty shots that forces O’Malley to scramble in the final seconds. 

Round 5

Through much of the first minute, neither fighter is offering much offense. Dvalishvili is clearly trying to mitigate risk while O’Malley is wary of the takedown. 90 seconds into the round, Dvalishvili lands a big takedown and has O’Malley’s back against the fence. O’Malley gets up to his feet and breaks the grip to separate. O’Malley fires a straight left that lands.

Dvalishvili shoots for a single leg, but O’Malley defends. ‘Sugar’ appears to have Dvalishvili hurt with a front kick to the body. O’Malley stars spamming the body kick. Dvalishvili shoots for a desperation takedown but eats an uppercut in the process. Dvalishvili looks up at the clock as O’Malley lands another stinging front kick. O’Malley is headhunting, but Dvalishvili is dancing around and staying out of danger. As the 10-second clacker sounds, Dvalishvili drags O’Malley to the mat with a single leg and keeps him there until the final horn sounds. 

Official Result: Merab Dvalishvili def. Sean O’Malley via unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 48-47)

Check Out Highlights From Sean O’Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306: 

Published on September 15, 2024 at 2:10 am
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Craig Pekios

Craig Pekios
Covering the world of Mixed Martial Arts since 2012. Providing the latest news, picks, scores, results, and commentary on the world of MMA.

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