“The Machine” era has begun.
Merab Dvalishvili defeated Sean O’Malley via unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 48-47) to capture the UFC bantamweight title in the UFC 306 main event Saturday night at Sphere in Las Vegas.
Dvalishvili used his trademark wrestling, pace, pressure, and cardio to take the belt away from O’Malley. He completed six of 15 takedown attempts and put up over 10 minutes of control time to largely dominate O’Malley from start to finish.
“I know (O’Malley) was good, but I make him normal,” Dvalishvili said in his postfight interview. “I make him look normal. … Today, I am the best fighter in the UFC, OK? I prove.”
Dvalishvili is now the second active UFC champion to represent Georgia, joining featherweight champ Ilia Topuria.
Dvalishvili’s first title defense will likely come against No. 2-ranked contender Umar Nurmagomedov, who was in attendance at Sphere and shown on the broadcast after the fight. Dvalishvili was asked about Nurmagomedov potentially being his next opponent, but the new champion didn’t want to talk about the future.
“Let’s leave it like this,” said Dvalishvili, who dismissed Nurmagomedov as a worthy challenger before UFC 306. “I just won the belt. I was working 12 years (to win the UFC title).”
After a brief feeling-out process in Round 1, Dvalishvili took an early lead against O’Malley with an easy takedown. He landed punches against the fence and took O’Malley down again later in the stanza.
Dvalishvili scored a perfectly timed takedown two minutes into the second round and continued to control and suffocate O’Malley on the mat. O’Malley tried to set up a couple of submissions off his back, but Dvalishvili faced minimal resistance overall.
O’Malley did better work in the third – the closest round of the fight – staying upright for most of it and connecting with a few hard punches. O’Malley nearly landed a huge knee up the middle.
But Dvalishvili dominated Round 4 and began to run away with the fight in those five minutes. He timed a takedown beautifully in the middle of the Octagon and stayed busy on top. Dvalishvili landed short elbows and applied constant pressure. He also wore O’Malley down in the clinch with heavy knees.
Dvalishvili landed a high-amplitude takedown a minute and a half into the fifth round, and it seemed as if he would coast to victory. However, O’Malley returned to his feet and went for a Hail Mary finish. O’Malley hurt Dvalishvili to the body with a front kick with 90 seconds left in the fight. Dvalishvili grimaced and was on the retreat for a few seconds. O’Malley then stuffed Dvalishvili’s takedown attempt and landed a knee. Ultimately, in the final seconds, Dvalishvili managed to get O’Malley to the ground and seal the victory.
Dvalishvili extended his winning streak to 11 with the triumph, a divisional record. The 33-year-old hasn’t suffered a loss since his second UFC bout in 2018. Dvalishvili earned a title shot by beating former two-division champ Henry Cejudo at UFC 298 in February.
O’Malley was handed just the second defeat of his professional MMA career against Dvalishvili. “Suga” was riding a seven-fight unbeaten streak coming in.
O’Malley, 29, captured the 135-pound title with a second-round knockout of Dvalishvili’s friend and teammate, Aljamain Sterling, in August 2023. O’Malley successfully defended it once with a dominant win over Marlon “Chito” Vera at UFC 299 in March.
