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Mario Bautista has addressed 'Sugar' Sean O'Malley's recent defeat to Merab Dvalishvili in their UFC bantamweight championship showdown. Despite O'Malley's loss, Bautista deemed his teammate the better fighter than Dvalishvili.
America's O'Malley lost his UFC bantamweight title via unanimous decision to the Georgian Dvalishvili in the headlining match of UFC 306 at the Sphere in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.A., on Sept. 14, 2024. Dvalishvili was lauded for thoroughly out-grappling 'Sugar' and neutralizing his fearsome striking. O'Malley later claimed he'd suffered a hip injury, a left labrum tear, leading up to the fight.
Speaking to James Lynch for Sportskeeda MMA, Bautista, who's trained with O'Malley at the MMA Lab in Arizona, recently discussed the fight and referenced the former champion's injury. The Nevada-born Arizona-based combatant indicated that if O'Malley and Dvalishvili were to clash multiple times, 'Sugar' would emerge victorious in most of them.
That said, he implied that O'Malley's defeat has opened up the division and possible pathways for him, given that he, too, competes at bantamweight and is eyeing a title shot. Touching on Dvalishvili's victory, Bautista stated:
"It was impressive. I thought Sean -- I think he hurt his hip, and I felt like it kind of showed in that fight. Because I know Sean, and I've seen him fight. And things happened during camp, but he just didn't look the same to me. So with that being said, I think, I don't know. I think Sean beats him nine out of ten times. So yeah, it was unfortunate for Sean. But it does shake things up in the division a little bit, and it opens up some doorways."
Check out Mario Bautista's comments below (12:46):
Following UFC 307 debacle, Mario Bautista addresses how he and Sean O'Malley deal with fan backlash
Mario Bautista is coming off a split decision victory against MMA legend Jose Aldo at UFC 307 (Oct. 5, 2024). Several fans lambasted Bautista's strategy of supposedly stalling the fight by holding Aldo against the fence without inflicting much damage.
During his aforementioned interview, Bautista was asked about how he's dealing with the post-UFC 307 fan backlash and whether he's received any advice from his teammates to handle online hate. The No. 9-ranked bantamweight alluded that UFC color commentator and podcast mogul Joe Rogan often speaks about ignoring the hateful remarks in the comments sections of his videos.
Bautista opined that fans have "short-term memory" and would come around over his next few fights. He signaled that akin to Rogan's strategy, O'Malley also adopts a similar approach. Underscoring that his detractors aren't a part of his life and that he doesn't care about them, Bautista said:
"You know some advice like, 'F these fans. They don't even know what they're talking about. Everyone, we all have your back, this and that.' And then, even I realized that, man, I think that's why Sean has like, that's why he's following one person." [6:39 in above interview]
Presently, it's unclear who Bautista will fight next. Meanwhile, O'Malley recently underwent hip surgery and has outlined that his potential comeback would take around six to nine months.
