Merab Dvalishvili Earns Bantamweight Title With Dominant Victory Over Sean O’Malley At Noche UFC
Tonight inside Sphere in Las Vegas at UFC 306, aka Noche UFC, Merab Dvalishvili went from No. 1 contender to UFC bantamweight champion with a decisive victory over Sean O’Malley.
While the fight unfolded over the course of 5 rounds, the story was fairly consistent throughout, with Dvalishvili establishing his wrestling prowess and inflicting punishment from the top position.
O’Malley was able to generate some striking offense in the portion of the fight that was on the feet, but the former titleholder ultimately looked quite gun shy in the eyes of many, and was not able to find the opportunity he was looking for to capitalize on the kind of strikes that would earn him the victory.
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The ability to close the distance on O’Malley, despite the height and reach disadvantage, and get him to the ground on a large percentage of attempts, is championship level material in itself. But, Dvalishvili’s display of control when things hit the mat, coupled with punishing ground strikes, is what really makes this victory impressively dominant.
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Dvalishvili is now on an 11 fight win streak, and has not lost a match inside the octagon since 2018. His achievement of the bantamweight title is complimented by a dominant run over the course of the last 6 years in the UFC.
Official Result: Merab Dvalishvili def. Sean O’Malley via Decision (Unanimous) – 49-46, 48-47, 48-47