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Sean O'Malley recently claimed that he haddone enough to get his hand raised at Noche UFC 306, but Merab Dvalishvili, his opponent on the night, took to X (formerly Twitter) to dismiss those claims. The former bantamweight champion claimed that he dealt more damage and won more rounds.
Instead of making a counterpoint, Dvalishvili opted to offer his rival a rematch. Moreover, he seems open to facing O'Malley as soon as Nov. 16 at Madison Square Garden in what would be his first defense of the bantamweight title he took from 'Suga.'
Dvalishvili tweeted:
"I hear O'Malley thinks he won the fight and is looking for a rematch. If he wants it he can have it. Let's do it November 16th at the Garden and then I'll still defend the title against whoever the UFC wants me to fight next. What do you think? @SugaSeanMMA"
Whether the UFC will move forward with Dvalishvili's proposition remains to be seen. It isn't entirely unlikely, as the promotion has booked title fights involving undeserving challengers in the past. Moreover, it wouldn't be the first time a loser was given another title fight.
A notable and recent example is Israel Adesanya, who came off a lopsided upset middleweight title loss to Sean Strickland back at UFC 293, and returned at UFC 305 to face newly minted 185-pound champion Dricus du Plessis in a title bout. Given O'Malley's star power and the UFC's hopes for him as the one of the leading stars in the promotion, he may very well fight for gold again.
This is especially possible given that O'Malley is already rewriting the narrative surrounding his unanimous decision loss to Dvalishvili.
Merab Dvalishvili dominated Sean O'Malley at Noche UFC 306
Besides some bizarre moments like Merab Dvalishvili kissing Sean O'Malley's back, the pair's fight Noche UFC 306 was a fairly standard wrestler vs. striker affair. It was defined by Dvalishvili overwhelming pressure, as he stifled his foe with relentless takedowns and constant output.
Check out the highlights from Merab Dvalishvili vs. Sean O'Malley at Noche UFC 306:
Unable to gauge his opponent's movements and timing, O'Malley was helpless for large spells of the bout. He did, however, have a brief moment of success towards the end of the fight. He landed a snappy front kick to Dvalishvili's midsection, which appeared to hurt him. Unfortunately, O'Malley was unable to find a finish, and ended up losing the fight, and his 135 pound strap, via unanimous decision.
