Merab Dvalishvili has been a grappling beast his entire MMA profession, however the one knock on him could have been an absence of finishes.
That knock can’t be utilized to him in his efficiency at UFC 316, as he submitted Sean O’Malley in the primary occasion to retain the UFC bantamweight championship.
O’Malley stayed on the surface and tried to maintain distance early within the opening spherical. Whereas O’Malley scored a few respectable photographs early, a pair of slips, led him into Dvalishvili’s grasp. The defending champ scored a pair of takedowns through the spherical, delivering the identical form of high stress that troubled O’Malley of their first assembly.
The second spherical proved to be a lot nearer, with each males having moments. Dvalishvili continued together with his relentless grappling stress, however O’Malley appeared to land the stronger strikes — and defended most of Dvalishvili’s takedown makes an attempt nicely sufficient.
The third spherical, nevertheless, noticed Dvalishvili land a giant takedown on O’Malley. Regardless of O’Malley’s defenses, Dvalishili’s high stress was an excessive amount of. Late within the spherical, Dvalishvili managed to lock up a D’Arce choke, even when O’Malley will get his again to the mat, placing Dvalishvili within the North-South place. The North-South choke scored Dvalishvili the faucet to retain the gold.
Merab Dvalishvili Retains Bantamweight Title Over Sean O’Malley At UFC 316
@MerabDvalishvil Bantamweight #UFC316
— Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) June 8, 2025
Merab is superb
#UFC316
— Cub Swanson (@CubSwanson) June 8, 2025
Merab Dvalishvili is UNSTOPPABLE. pic.twitter.com/ORjkr9HZuO
— Full Violence
(@Full_Violence) June 8, 2025
Protected to say Merab Dvalishvili is joyful
pic.twitter.com/O0lVhncRIl
— Zach Gelb (@ZachGelb) June 8, 2025
WOWWWWWWW MERAB HAS SUBMITTED SEAN O’MALLEY!!!!THIS MAN IS UNBELIEVABLE, AND STILL
#UFC316 pic.twitter.com/CiTwaFOD8f
— ACD MMA (@acdmma_) June 8, 2025
This was a rematch from Noche UFC 2 (UFC 306), which noticed Dvalishvili rating a call over O’Malley to seize the 135-pound championship.
This was Dvalishvili’s second bantamweight title protection. He retained the title in comeback choice style in opposition to Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311.
This was O’Malley’s first battle since shedding the title. It’s simply his third skilled MMA loss and second time being completed — following his loss to Marlon “Chito” Vera 5 years in the past.
