UFC 306 witnessed one of the promotion’s most successful ventures. But a major credit has to go to Sean O’Malley for attracting that kind of crowd. However, not many believed that the Helena native would lose the fight against Merab Dvalishvili in the way he did. ‘Suga’ is indeed known for his strong striking skills, and evading from pressure wrestlers kind of came easy to him. But ‘The Machine’ showed a completely different reality to the former champion and his fans. O’Malley got mauled, and dominated at The Sphere, even though he was the fan-favorite.
Now, ‘The Machine’ has succeeded in defending his belt for the first time and established himself as a champion. But getting the undisputed title, he must defend his throne from O’Malley in a rematch, don’t you agree? Let’s weigh in on this and see why Dvalishvili vs. O’Malley 2 is the next big thing for the bantamweight realm.
Sean O’Malley’s star power guarantees a massive PPV event
UFC 306 or Riyadh Season Noche UFC was proof that O’Malley has the power to attract a tremendously huge crowd. Even though UFC’s debut at The Sphere had a role to play in it, UFC 306 ended with a gate of $22 million – a promotional record that surpassed Conor McGregor’s MSG performance. And the crowd of 16,024 simply couldn’t have their entropy in check. The event even crossed the benchmark set by UFC 205: Alvarez vs. McGregor, becoming the highest-grossing UFC event ever.
Yes, but that’s not the only record that O’Malley vs. Dvalishvili broke. It was the highest-grossing single event at the venue. Even the sponsorship and merchandise sales broke all records. On Location VIP packages also experienced a record-breaking hike. On top of that, 89% of the ticket buyers were actually from locations outside Nevada, making UFC 306 one of the events with the highest out-of-town ticket sales.
While one of the factors for such an outcome was the attractiveness of The Sphere, the other factors lay with Sean O’Malley. The fighting community does love to watch ‘Suga’ fight. He’s one of the fighters who bring showmanship into the Octagon. Have you seen any other fighter hide their crossstep with kicks as effectively as O’Malley does? Additionally, the former bantamweight champion is a trickster. He sets up traps and finishes his opponents with his knockout power. And his fight against Thomas Almeida at UFC 260 is the perfect example of ‘Suga’s trickery. He has indeed become a polarizing fighter to watch with his colorful persona as well.
Credits: Imago
But the main question is whether O’Malley deserves one more shot against Merab Dvalishvili or not. No doubt, the Montana-born fighter has his eyes set on getting his bantamweight championship title back. And if Dvalishvili manages to defeat him again, well, he would cement his stance as a truly undisputed champion in the bantamweight kingdom.
O’Malley deserves a shot at revenge and the title
Tim Welch on his YouTube channel, analyzed the fight between ‘The Machine’ and Umar Nurmagomedov. He said, “He’s [Merab] a problem he’s a big problem. But I do believe that we [Team O’Malley] could be the Kryptonite to Merab with the right game plan and a good fight camp with Suga healthy I think we take him out and we will find out now won’t we?”
Even though ‘The Machine’ is intimidating with his recent wins, O’Malley has no option but to face this adversity once again and try to rise above Dvalishvili. After all, that’s exactly what champions do. They bounce back from adversity and dishonorable defeats. Back at UFC 306, the Georgian champion completely destroyed ‘Suga’. To make things worse, he even made fun of the 30-year-old bantamweight. Remember Dvalishvili planting kisses on O’Malley’s back? Well, ‘Suga’ remembers them way better. It’s only fair that he gets another chance to avenge himself and get back with the belt around his waist. And ‘The Machine’ has already cleared the division to bring in the rematch against ‘Suga’.
No other UFC bantamweight deserves it—Merab has beaten everyone else
After defeating ‘Suga’, Dvalishvili fought a previously undefeated ‘Young Eagle’. Not only did he defeat him, but he also showed that his grappling could overcome the impeccable Dagestani wrestling. ‘The Machine’ has defeated Petr Yan, a former bantamweight champion, Jose Aldo, a former featherweight champion and HoFer, and a former title challenger Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera. He has also found victory against the former double champion, Henry Cejudo. Although most of these wins came via decision, they’re still wins against formidable opponents.
May 20, 2023, LAS VEGAS, LAS VEGAS, NV, United States: LAS VEGAS, NV – May 20: Merab Dvalishvili wearing the Sean OÃââ Malley leather jacket at UFC Apex for UFC Vegas 73 – Dern vs Hill – Event on May 20, 2023 in LAS VEGAS, United States. LAS VEGAS United States – ZUMAp175 20230520_zsa_p175_351 Copyright: xLouisxGrassex
On the other hand, O’Malley has found success against fighters like Yan, Vera, and Aljamain Sterling. It only makes sense to put O’Malley against the Dvalishvili. Not only is he the former champion, but also the #1 bantamweight contender. And he still has some unfinished business to take care of against Dvalishvili.
If Dvalishvili and O’Malley actually clashed in a rematch, who do you think would rise victorious? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.
The post Why Merab Dvalishvili vs. Sean O’Malley 2 Is the Next Fight to Make for the Bantamweight Championship appeared first on EssentiallySports.
