Sean O’Malley isn’t making excuses following his loss at the hands of UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili.
Former champion O’Malley succumbed to a third-round North South choke in the UFC 316 main event last weekend in Newark, New Jersey in what was his second consecutive defeat at the hands of the Georgian titleholder — a result which, for the time being at least, ends his hopes of reclaiming 135-pound gold anytime soon.
But according to the American fighter, he didn’t realise the jeopardy he was in when Dvalishvili locked in the fight-ending choke until it was too late.
“It was weird. Because I didn’t feel like it was going to be tight,” O’Malley said on his personal YouTube channel, as noted by MMA Fighting. “I felt like he was kind of stalling in that position like he does and it just got tight fast.
“I was like oh f*ck. I didn’t realise how much time was left, I wish I would have f*cking been in my guard more instead of trying to get up and make something happen. No excuses.”
O’Malley added that Dvalishvili brought more to the cage last Saturday night than he thought he was capable of, placing him at the top of the all-time list of the UFC’s bantamweight greats.
“He felt strong last time but this time he felt just freakishly strong,” he said. “He’s the greatest bantamweight of all time.”
O’Malley’s loss comes after a prolonged sequence of activity since he made his UFC debut in 2017, which shows 14 fights against a who’s who of 135-pound opposition.
For now, though, he is more than happy to sit on the sidelines while he awaits his next assignment in the cage.
“It’s nice to not think about a fight right now,” he said. “Because I do want to just chill for a few weeks and it’s way better [to not have a fight booked]. Even if the UFC said I think we know what we’re going to do, I don’t even want to know right now. Let me chill for five.”
