Merab Dvalishvili submitted Sean O’Malley in the third round of their highly-anticipated rematch on Saturday night in Newark.
The UFC 316 main event had proven controversial with fans, particularly given O’Malley’s inability to get a fight between losing the belt and challenging for it again. However, his popularity won over as he earned an immediate second chance at Dvalishvili despite a relatively one-sided bout at UFC 306.
A packed house filled the Prudential Center in New Jersey, including President Donald Trump and boxing icon Mike Tyson. And they all were witness to a bantamweight world title double-header that began with Kayla Harrison finally picking up UFC gold by dethroning Julianna Pena.
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Merab Dvalishvili vs Sean O’Malley 2 UFC 316 result
Sean O’Malley made big changes to his preparations and corner for this fight, but he also opted for a new walkout song to celebrate President Trump’s attendance. He emerged from the tunnel to ‘Proud to be an American’, instead of his usual ‘Superstar’, earning rapturous applause from the Newark crowd.
Despite being an adopted son of New York just across the water, the New Jersey crowd made their distaste for Merab Dvalishvili clear with loud boos before the first bell had even rang. O’Malley had clearly game-planned differently, and looked much more fluid than first time out.
He moved and allowed the much smaller Dvalishvili to chase him around. The challenger picked off the champion at range with particular focus on the body that caused his rival damage in the latter stages of their first meeting.
Ultimately, the champion did get him down, but O’Malley was straight back up on both occasions taking minimal damage and arguably saving the round. In the second, he managed to stay on his feet for the entirety, landing big shots and bloodying the champion.
In the third, Dvalishvili managed to land a massive takedown right after a big exchange, and took control of the majority of the round. O’Malley briefly got himself back to his feet, but was quickly dumped back down and placed against the cage.
Dvalishvili locked in the choke at the end of the third and got the tap to retain his title.
Bantamweight division’s boogeyman slain in UFC 316 debut
One exciting aspect of the UFC 316 undercard was the opportunity for fans to catch the octagon debut of former Bellator champion Patchy Mix. After years of speculation as to whether he could hang with the UFC’s big boys, he finally got an unfortunate answer on Saturday night.
Mario Bautista was his opening assignment, and the controversial Arizona fighter played spoiler once again with a dominant unanimous decision win. It was 30-27 across the board, with Bautista managing to keep the fight on the feet and control distance despite being a much smaller man.
It remains to be seen where this win over an unranked Mix will land Bautista in next week’s rankings, but it’s certain Mix would have leapfrogged him into the top ten had he got the victory. He is now riding an eight-fight win streak including a scalp over the last man to beat Merab Dvalishvili; Ricky Simon.