LOS ANGELES – Merab Dvalishvili dominated Sean O’Malley in their highly anticipated rematch at UFC 316 on Saturday night, retaining his bantamweight title with a convincing performance.
Dvalishvili (16-5) used his relentless pace and aggression to control the fight from start to finish. He landed several takedowns throughout the three rounds, keeping O’Malley (18-2) on the back foot for much of the contest.
Despite being able to land some good shots in Round 2, O’Malley was unable to mount much offense in return. The turning point came just over four minutes into Round 3 when Dvalishvili finished the fight with a North-South neck crank submission.
The win marked Dvalishvili’s second successful title defense since winning the belt from O’Malley last year. In an interview after the win, he called out Cory Sandhagen for a potential future matchup:
“I would like to face him next for another shot at defending my title,” he said.
Sandhagen has been on a hot streak lately, winning four of his last five fights, including victories over Saidyokub Kakhramonov and Petr Yan. However, it remains unclear if that will happen anytime soon, as Sandhagen is currently scheduled to face Marlon Vera next month at UFC Fight Night: Sandhagen vs. Vera, which will be held on April 22nd inside The Forum in Inglewood, California.
O’Malley’s Loss Continues Trend of Upset Defeats
O’Malley’s loss continues a trend of upset defeats suffered by top-ranked fighters this year. Earlier this month, Aljamain Sterling lost via unanimous decision against Henry Cejudo, while earlier this year, Charles Oliveira was defeated by Islam Makhachev via submission.
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Sterling had been considered one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in MMA but was unable to overcome Cejudo’s grappling skills despite landing several good shots throughout their five-round contest.
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In contrast, Makhachev dominated Oliveira en route to securing his second consecutive championship victory against "Do Bronx." He controlled most areas during their fight, including striking and grappling, where he secured multiple takedowns, earning two points per round based solely on those takedowns.
Makhachev has now become one half of only two men who have successfully defended titles twice under Dana White’s leadership within The Ultimate Fighting Championship organization, alongside Max Holloway, who also holds that distinction. Holloway successfully defended his titles twice under White before becoming champion himself, following his victory over Brian Ortega via unanimous decision on February 15, 2021. Prior to that, Holloway had successfully defended his Featherweight Title twice against José Aldo at UFC on Fox 5 and UFC on Fox 18, both of which took place inside the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada.
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