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Sean O'Malley's time at the top of the bantamweight division ended at Noche UFC 306 as he was outclassed by a dominant Merab Dvalishvili. 'Sugar' however has handled the loss like a gentleman, apologizing to his fans for failing to get the win as promised.
In the main event, Dvalishvili's superior cardio and offensive wrestling ended up the Amercian's kryptonite. While O'Malley was largely able to get back up after being taken down in the initial rounds, prolonged grappling exchanges seemingly gassed him out later in the fight.
In the latter half of the contest. 'The Machine' started finding more and more success in not only taking 'Sugar' down but also keeping him there. The takedown threat also left O'Malley a bit gun-shy later on.
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However, sensing the fight was slipping away from him, the Montana native ramped up the activity in the final round, even hurting his opponent with a few debilitating body shots.
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Despite his best efforts, 'Sugar' failed to finish his foe, and once the closing bell rang, the judges saw the fight as a unanimous decision win for 'The Machine'.
Check out the official scorecards for Sean O'Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili below:
O'Malley had made hefty promises to finish 'The Machine' when they met in the octagon. Not only did he fail to do that but was dominated by the Georgian throughout the fight.
The 29-year-old made sure to take responsibility for the loss in a post-fight statement for his fans. He wrote:
"Over-promised, under-delivered. Sorry. Love you guys."
Catch Sean O'Malley's statement below:
A win at Noche UFC would have helped 'Sugar' tie with former champion T.J. Dillashaw for the most knockout finishes in the history of the division. Dvalishvili is now tied with Raphael Assuncao for the most decision wins at 135 pounds.
Noche UFC 306 now boasts the highest gate in the promotion's history, racking in $22 million. It has vastly outdone two historic Conor McGregor fight cards, UFC 205 and UFC 229 which brought in $17.7 and $17.2 million respectively.
