Sean O’Malley didn’t assume he was in critical hazard when Merab Dvalishvili snatched a entrance headlock throughout a grappling alternate within the third spherical however then simply seconds later the battle was over.
It was a surprising sequence for the previous bantamweight champion after he was pressured to faucet out for the primary time in his profession, which ended his rematch with Dvalishvili within the UFC 316 primary occasion. Simply days after the battle, O’Malley and his coach Tim Welch mentioned the submission and the boldness Dvalishvili confirmed grabbing onto his neck after he beforehand simply sought to keep up a extra advantageous place after they first met this previous September.
“It was bizarre. As a result of I didn’t really feel prefer it was going to be tight,” O’Malley stated concerning the submission on his YouTube channel. “I felt like he was sort of stalling in that place like he does and it simply received tight quick.
“I used to be like oh f*ck. I didn’t notice how a lot time was left, I want I might have f*cking been in my guard extra as an alternative of making an attempt to stand up and make one thing occur. No excuses.”
After battling Dvalishvili to a call of their first encounter, O’Malley couldn’t do something however congratulate the Georgian on a job properly accomplished to complete the battle within the rematch.
Regardless of lower than 9 months passing between fights, O’Malley credited Dvalishvili for making some vital changes and someway getting much more highly effective for the rematch.
“He felt sturdy final time however this time he felt simply freakishly sturdy,” O’Malley stated. “He’s the best bantamweight of all time.”
Whereas the end result didn’t go his means, O’Malley admits his perspective after this loss feels a lot completely different than his first encounter with Dvalishvili.
A part of that comes right down to strolling away wholesome with O’Malley saying that his physique truly feels nice proper now in contrast to the battle from this previous September the place he instantly needed to bear hip surgical procedure.
This time round, O’Malley is aware of he nonetheless must make some vital modifications earlier than he competes once more however he’s wholesome, rich and life may very well be an entire lot worse.
“So for me to have the ability to undergo one thing like that and the subsequent Sunday rolls round, Monday rolls round, I don’t really feel unhappy in any respect,” O’Malley stated. “I nonetheless really feel very glad. I really feel a bit upset within the end result. I really feel like I’m annoyed however there’s no disappointment within me.
“I’m holding my 14-day-old, Elena’s sleeping on my chest, [my wife] Dani’s proper subsequent to me, I’ll shut my eyes and I’ll image issues — when he locked up the guillotine, I may have accomplished one thing, may have accomplished this, may have accomplished that, however there’s nothing I can do about it now. Form of onto the subsequent thought, I’m not sitting in that f*cking thought simply unravel and go down a adverse gap. I nonetheless really feel superb.”
With back-to-back losses to Dvalishvili on his document, O’Malley is clearly going to maneuver onto a special opponent for his subsequent battle however he’s not even considering discussing that simply but.
One in all O’Malley’s associates through the podcast advised a battle towards Umar Nurmagomedov, who truly dropped a call to Dvalishvili again in January however stays obtainable proper now.
That may be intriguing however greater than something, O’Malley says he’s simply able to decompress and he’ll take into consideration opponents and a timeline for him toe battle once more at a later date.
“It’s good to not take into consideration a battle proper now,” O’Malley stated. “As a result of I do need to simply chill for just a few weeks and it’s means higher [to not have a fight right now]. Even when the UFC stated I believe we all know what we’re going to do, I don’t even need to know proper now. Let me chill for 5.”
