Sean O’Malley was unsuccessful in his attempt to win back the bantamweight title from Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 316 on Saturday night, and he’s now admitted that he was more nervous than ever before in the build-up to the fight.
“I definitely felt this kind of nervous feeling that I’m not used to, just because how the first fight played out, know his cardio’s so crazy, knowing if it hits the ground, like, I knew I worked on the takedown defense so much and I knew I was able to get up,” O’Malley told Tim Welch on his YouTube channel.
“But, I’m like, I also know there’s a chance that this fight plays out the same way it did. So, it’s like, in the back, I was more nervous this fight probably than I’ve ever been. Like, you feel vulnerable, you’re in the cage like “alright, if this motherfucker grabs ahold of me, there’s a chance that I can’t get away from this little f*cker.”
O’Malley also admitted that Dvalishvili seemed to be even more difficult to deal with in the rematch.
“He felt different. He felt stronger,” O’Malley said, and acknowledged that Dvalishvili caught him fair and square with the fight-ending choke.
“It was weird because I didn’t feel like it was going to be tight. I felt like he was kind of going to stall in that position like he does and it got tight fast,” O’Malley recalled. “I was like, ‘Oh, f*ck.” I didn’t realize how much time was left. I wish I would have just been in my guard more instead of trying to get up and make something happen.
“No excuses. I had a great camp. Camp was f*cking really good. Sparring was good, Everything was excellente.”
Despite the disappointment of another defeat to his rival, O’Malley claims that he’s actually feeling good and glad to have emerged from the fight relatively unscathed this time around.
“Not having to get surgery after the fight, it’s so like, oh my God. I don’t know if that’s why it still feels so f*cking like happy, grateful. I don’t have to get surgery,” O’Malley said. “After the last fight, that sucked. Losing the belt and then having to get surgery right after, that was was not good.
“This time, it’s like, well, what are you going to do,” continued O’Malley. “Happiness is a skill, so for me to be able to go through something like that and then the next Sunday rolls around, Monday rolls around, I don’t feel sad at all. I still feel very happy. I feel a little disappointed in the outcome. I feel frustrated, but there’s no sadness inside of me.”
And backing that up, O’Malley revealed he’s already eager to get back to work and continue improving.
“I want to get back in the gym, back to training. I feel I grew so much that fight camp as a fighter. There’s still a lot for me to do, obviously, a lot to work on. I’m excited to get back to work,” he said. “I’m also feel like I grew a lot in my personal life in that fight camp … That was so worth it. Win or lose, I feel like I gained so much from that camp.”
