Sean
O’Malley has been marketed as a star since his arrival in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship.
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While he has largely delivered on that promise, he couldn’t live up
to the hype in the UFC
306 main event on Saturday night. The “Suga” show was derailed
at the Sphere in Las Vegas, as he had no answer for the grappling
and pressure of Merab
Dvalishvili in a unanimous decision defeat in the evening’s
championship headliner. O’Malley didn’t find much success until the
final frame, when he hurt Dvalishvili with a front kick to the body
and continued to target that area for much of the round. By then,
it was too late for the MMA Lab product to sway the scorecards in
his favor.
“He looked flat. He didn’t look sharp. He didn’t look crisp until
the last round,” UFC CEO Dana White said at the UFC 306 post-fight
press conference. “He hurt him with that body shot. He knew he hurt
him with the body shot and kept going, trying to finish. I looked
at the punch stats and there were like six in a couple of
rounds.”
All told, Dvalishvili held an 82-to-47 edge in signficant strikes
and landed six of 15 takedowns while racking up 10:03 of Octagon
control time against his striking minded-foe. White dismissed the
notion that the moment was too big for O’Malley.
“I don’t know the answer to that question, but I think he’s one of
those kids that lives for moments like this,” White said. “This is
what he’s about. He’s that guy. I don’t know if he just got in
there tonight and felt flat. Some nights, it’s just is what it
is.”
O’Malley, who didn’t appear at the post-fight press conference,
released a brief statement on social media following the defeat.
Prior to the event, O’Malley stated that a victory over Dvalishvili
had the potential to elevate him to the position of being the UFC’s
biggest star. It was his second UFC loss in 13 appearances.
“Over promised under delivered,” O’Malley wrote. “Sorry. Love you
guys.”
Over promised under delivered. Sorry. Love
you guys.— Sean O’Malley (@SugaSeanMMA)
September 15, 2024