Sean O’Malley was understandably disappointed with his result at UFC 306.
After vowing to end Merab Dvalishvili inside the first round, O’Malley ended up losing a unanimous decision, which cost him the bantamweight title in his second attempted defense. O’Malley struggled to deal with Dvalishvili’s relentless pressure and takedowns before he was ultimately dethroned as champion.
While he didn’t make an appearance at the post-fight press conference, O’Malley posted a brief message on social media to address his loss.
“Over promised, under delivered,” O’Malley wrote on Twitter. “Sorry. Love you guys.”
Over promised under delivered. Sorry. Love you guys.
— Sean O'Malley (@SugaSeanMMA) September 15, 2024
Best known for his sniper-like striking, O’Malley just couldn’t put the trigger much on Saturday with Dvalishvili constantly walking him down and then scoring on several takedowns. The wrestling from Dvalishvili definitely altered O’Malley’s ability to use his kicks, although he did connect with a nasty shot to the body late in the fifth round.
Unfortunately for O’Malley it was too little, too late with Dvalishvili surviving the only serious damage he suffered in the fight before he was crowned the new UFC bantamweight champion.
It’s only the second time O’Malley has tasted defeat in his career, although he’ll likely say it’s the first after an injury led to a ground and pound finish when he fell to Marlon “Chito” Vera back in 2020.
Considering the way the fight against Dvalishvili played out, O’Malley posted a short video on Instagram wearing a wrestling singlet as he showcased his sprawl to defend a takedown along with a caption that said “back to work.”
Because he lost after predicting a knockout victory, O’Malley had to know he was going to hear it from his biggest critics, which included boxer Devin Haney.
“O’Malley b*tch ass lost,” Haney wrote on Twitter.
O’Malley bitch ass lost..
— Devin Haney (@Realdevinhaney) September 15, 2024
While he probably wasn’t in the mood to hear it, O’Malley still took time to fire back at Haney with a reminder about what would happen if they ever actually fought.
“Still kill you,” O’Malley wrote in response.
Still kill you
— Sean O'Malley (@SugaSeanMMA) September 15, 2024
O’Malley leaves Las Vegas without his title but he remains one of the biggest stars on the UFC roster so it probably won’t take long for him to get back into contention with another win or two.
For now he’s going to regroup and figure out where it all went wrong after losing on Saturday night.
