SEAN O’MALLEY went into UFC 306 expecting to defend a flurry of punches and takedown attempts from Merab Dvalishvili.
But he didn’t expect to receive a bunch of KISSES from the Georgian gladiator midway through their historic Sin City Sphere showdown early this morning.
O’Malley looked to make his second defence of the men’s bantamweight title in the showpiece bout at Vegas’ brand-spanking new venue.
But his reign as king of the 135-pounders came to a gruelling end as Dvalishvili outworked him for three of the five rounds to earn a unanimous decision victory.
Tensions were high throughout the build-up to the bantamweight war.
And you could cut it with a knife in the early exchanges of the fight.
It wasn’t long before relentless cardio and takedown machine Dvalishvili began dictating the pace and taking O’Malley down at will.
The biggest fight of the Tbilisi titan’s career soon became one of his most enjoyable, a fact he showed late in the second round.
With seconds of the stanza remaining and O’Malley in a guillotine, Dvalishvili repeatedly KISSED the back of the champion’s neck before letting go of the submission after thinking the horn had gone.
A visibly frustrated O’Malley leapt to his feet and landed two right hands on the retreating challenger, who ended up being told off by referee Herb Dean.
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MMA fans couldn’t quite believe their eyes, with one writing on X: “The level of disrespect SHM.”
Another said: “Kid got humiliated.”
And another said: “Merab is a real clown.”
One remarked: “Sean was more upset about getting kissed than anything else.”
Another chimed in: “Spread love and get hits at the back.”
Dvalishvili’s mid-fight smooching of O’Malley also baffled UFC President and CEO Dana White.
The 55-year-old said in the post-fight press conference: “The kissing on the back and standing and walking away right before the bell.
“I have no idea [why he did that].
“Merab does some s**t. You know what I mean? It was weird but not shocking.”
When asked to explain why he kissed O’Malley, Dvalishvili, 33, said: “Yeah, so I grabbed his neck, and then he had 10 seconds left.
“And I know he can wait – he’s not going to go to sleep or tap, and I wanted to make just a little fun of him you know.
“I don’t hate the guy, just make fun of him but at the same time give him a little kiss to show that I’m dominating, I control this fight, I break you..
“That’s why I was kissing. But I had too much fun there, and I guess I lost the time control.
“But when I let go he followed me, and he punched the back of my head and I started protecting myself again.
“And I said, ‘Referee, I’m sorry referee, I’m sorry!’”
Victory over O’Malley saw Dvalishvili become the UFC’s second Georgian-born champion, seven months after his compatriot Ilia Topuria knocked out Alexander Volkanovski to claim featherweight gold.
