A few days ago Sean O’Malley seemed to have accepted his unanimous decision loss to Merab Dvalishvili, stating that he had “overpromised, underdelivered” at UFC 306, but now after re-watching the fight he’s changed his tune completely and believes he won and should still be bantamweight champion.
“Round 1. I won that round 100%!!” O’Malley declared on X after announcing he was taking another look at the fight. “Based on damage that’s my round.
“Round 2 def lost. Took very little damage tho.
“Round 3 was closer than round 1 in my opinion. My round. Up 2-1 going into round 4.
“Round 4 Merabs round for sure. 2-2 going into the 5th.
“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.”
O’Malley then went on Twitter Spaces to talk more about his belief that he didn’t lose the fight.
“I won the first, third, and fifth. Oh I’m f*cking fired up right now. I’m the champ! I won! I’m the champ! Where’s my belt?! Get that belt out my suitcase! I’m the champ, baby!…
“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. 135 bantamweight champion of the world is still here. F*ck Merab! Let’s go!
“But for real, Round 3 was close. Round 3 and 5, two judges gave it to me. Round 1, in my opinion, was clearly my round. Round 3 was a closer round, I still think it was my round. Round 1, I don’t know how they gave it to Merab. Just look at the stat sheet, he took me down a few times but literally did no damage. Come on now, tell me I’m wrong! Round 1, 3, and 5. I won that fight. It’s as simple as that.”
O’Malley’s claims are unlikely to get much backing as he did appear to be dominated during the fight and only really found success with a couple of front kicks to the body in the final round that definitely seemed to hurt Dvalishvili.
Nevertheless, O’Malley is now turning his attention to his next fight, and has indicated he wants to fight the No.2 ranked Umar Nurmagomedov, despite the fact he’s already being touted as the next title challenger.
“Merab is f*cking terrified of Umar,” O’Malley said. “Doesn’t want to fight Umar. I don’t know why. Umar is good, don’t get me wrong. But Merab is terrified. He’s not a champ. I’m the champ. I would fight Umar next. I can fight Umar next for the belt. I’m the champ. I should defend my belt against Umar. I have to get surgery Oct. 3, I’ll be back probably June or July. I’m going to come back as quick as possible because I love this shit.
“God it feels good to be the champ again!”
