Unable to regain 135-pound gold O'Malley came up short in his quest to regain the UFC Bantamweight Championship on Saturday, falling to Merab Dvalishvili via submission (guillotine choke) at 4:42 of Round 3 at UF... Impact Fully recovered from hip surgery which hampered him in the first fight against Dvalishvili last September, O'Malley fought better. And still lost. More convincingly than the first time. Sean spent too much time on his back in Round 1, but was by no means dominated. He stuffed all four of Merab's takedown attempts in Round 2 and even won the round on one scorecard, but it all came crashing down in Round 3. He was worked his way back to his feet twice before being dragged down to the mat three separate times. His will appeared to break in the process and Dvalishvili was able to get the submission win late in the frame. Sean still may be the second-best bantamweight in the world, but the guy at the top of the food chain is a nightmare matchup for him. It's reminiscent of the Jon Jones v. Daniel Cormier situation back in the day. It doesn't mean O'Malley is anything other than elite. It just means Merab is better.
JUNE 8 • ROTOWIRE