After initially accepting his unanimous decision loss to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306, Sean O’Malley rewatched the fight and now claims he should have won by taking Rounds 1, 3, and 5, asserting himself as the true bantamweight champion.
Sean O’Malley believes he was robbed by the judges.
This past weekend, O’Malley dropped a unanimous decision to Merab Dvalishvili, losing the bantamweight title in the main event of UFC 306. Initially, O’Malley accepted his loss, offering “no excuses” for his performance. But now, a few days later, “Suga” has changed his mind.
On Thursday, O’Malley re-watched his fight with Dvalishvili for the first time. He live-tweeted his reaction and argued that he should have won by taking Rounds 1, 3, and 5.
Round 3 was closer than round 1 in my opinion. My round.
Up 2-1 going into round 4— Sean O’Malley (@SugaSeanMMA)
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
After concluding his rewatch, O’Malley jumped on a brief Twitter Spaces to elaborate on why he feels he deserved to win.
“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. I challenge all you f*cking little dorks that think I got my ass kicked to go and rewatch that fight… Rewatch it. Turn off the commentary and tell me I did not win.”
“I won the first, third, and fifth. Oh I’m f*cking fired up right now. I’m the champ! Where’s my belt?! Get that belt out my suitcase! I’m the champ!”
“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. The bantamweight champion of the world is still here. F*ck Merab! Let’s go!”
“But for real, Round 3 was close. Two judges gave it to me along with Round 5. Round 1 was clearly mine too. Just look at the stat sheet; he took me down a few times but did no damage. Come on now, tell me I’m wrong! Round 1, 3, and 5—I won that fight.”
Aside from changing his tune on the fight outcome, O’Malley also appears to be shifting his position on what’s next for him.
Following the loss, O’Malley revealed a hip injury needing surgery which might keep him out for a year. Now though, he seems re-energized and claims he’ll be back next summer to defend his belt against Umar Nurmagomedov.
“Merab is f*cking terrified of Umar,” O’Malley said. “Doesn’t want to fight Umar. Umar is good but Merab is terrified. He’s not a champ; I am. I would fight Umar next for the belt. Surgery Oct. 3rd; back by June or July. Can’t wait because I love this shit.
“God it feels good to be the champ again!”
This isn’t the first time O’Malley has retroactively dismissed a loss.
O’Malley’s first career defeat came against Chito Vera in 2020 and afterward “Suga” repeatedly referred to himself as undefeated heading into their rematch and claimed he “won” his No-Contest against Pedro Munhoz. It seems like O’Malley intends to do something similar here as he continues to rip Dvalishvili.
“Please, you can’t have Merab as champ,” O’Malley said. “He’s boring as f*ck. I just rewatched the fight—I tried making it unboring as possible—getting up and defending more takedowns than Henry Cejudo… Had Merab literally holding his stomach running from me praying for it to end staring at the clock.” Round 1, 3, and 5! The champ is here!”