Champ stunned by ‘dominant’ rival in bizarre UFC bout

Sean O’Malley has sensationally lost his bantamweight title in the main event of UFC 307 in a complete mismatch against Merab Dvalishvili.
In front of a packed house inside the Sphere in Las Vegas, O’Malley was humbled by one of the best wrestlers in the sport over the course of five rounds.
The judges scored it 49-46, 48-47, 48-47 in favour of Merab.
FOLLOW LIVE: NRL Finals Week One Sunday
READ MORE: In-demand Knights prop confirms ongoing rumours
READ MORE: ‘They always talk’: Canelo hits back after clinical win
Things started in bizarre fashion when Merab asked for the fight to be momentarily halted, claiming that his rival’s corner were distracting him.
Veteran referee Herb Dean stepped in and urged Merab to get on with his business as the crowd started to voice their displeasure towards the challenger, who regained his composure and began to smother the American with his wrestling.
“You can’t let him get his hands on you, because once he does, he’s like glue and he will just get stuck to you,” former world champ Daniel Cormier said in commentary.
The weird nature of the bout continued late in the second round when Merab was warned for kissing O’Malley, leading to an odd exchange.
O’Malley started to find his striking range in the third round, but any momentum was short-lived, as Merab took the fight to the ground once again in the fourth.
The challenger took the fight to the ground for a fifth time in the final round and despite some groans from the audience in Las Vegas, there was no denying the display.
“It’s a dominant performance by Merab, who cares about the crowd,” Joe Rogan said.
Sean OMalley is overpowered by Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 307.  Getty
O’Malley went for broke with some hard strikes in the final 90 seconds of the fight, but it was too little too late as the judges confirmed a unanimous decision result.
The result marks just the second loss for O’Malley inside the octagon, while Merab’s professional MMA record improves to 18-4.
Earlier on the main card, Valentina Shevchenko regained the women’s flyweight gold, defeating Alexa Grasso in a dominant five-round performance, while Diego Lopes continued his upwards trajectory at flyweight with a win over Brian Ortega.