At the culmination of UFC 306, the consensus was that Merab Dvalishvili had dominated Sean O'Malley to win the bantamweight title. However, the former champion has tried to flip the narrative by claiming he won three rounds and the fight.
As per O'Malley, he got the better of Dvalishvili in rounds one, three, and five. An immediate rematch seems to be off the table, though. "Suga" requires hip surgery which will keep him out of action for almost a year. In the meantime, "The Machine" can take on contenders such as Umar Nurmagomedov or Deiveson Figueiredo.
Former UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen is not a huge fan of the UFC's reaction to O'Malley losing the title. He believes that the former champ deserves an immediate rematch upon his return and here's why...
Chael Sonnen Justifies Sean O'Malley Getting Immediate Title Rematch Because He Could ' Move The Needle' Like Conor McGregor, Ronda Rousey & Israel Adesanya
He might be in the minority here, but Sonnen strongly opposed the UFC's decision to not consider giving O'Malley an immediate rematch on his YouTube channel recently. He backed the claim by calling "Suga" one of the biggest draws in the promotion currently and remembering that he's headlined events with massive gates (UFC 299 and UFC 306).
"The American Gangster" then compared O'Malley to Israel Adesanya. He stated that the latter chose his opponents strategically and compensated for it by promoting himself brilliantly. Despite being a good promoter, O'Malley never got this trade-off according to Sonnen. He was bringing in fans, but at the same time, was fighting everyone that the UFC put in front of him.
The very first option is the champion that drops the belt gets a rematch for his belt. It was a respect that was shown to every single great champion. And by great champion, I'm talking about champions that could also move the needle. All of them were offered rematches. From Conor on down. More recently, Israel Adesanya. Right into it, I'm sharing with you, all the greats except Sean.
Sonnen looked back at O'Malley's UFC run which included a major bump in competition as Petr Yan. He then fought Sterling to grab the title and defended it against Marlon Vera. Even if he had beaten Dvalishvili, the next contender was already ready for him as Nurmagomedov or Figueiredo.
All the history, combined with the fact that rounds one, three, and five could've potentially gone to O'Malley, is enough for him to get an immediate rematch according to the UFC veteran.
Motivation could largely be based upon opportunities. Of which I didn't see any add, I only saw him taken away. I'm just sharing, that is what I saw. But now you've got Merab, you've got Nurmagomedov, and you got Figueiredo, and they can't seem to quite figure it out. Well, there's also a final option that should've come in front of all of them which is if there's controversy, we look at a rematch. There's controversy, go see rounds 1, 3, and 5. Watch that without commentating. Come back and tell me you don't see controversy.
O'Malley will be out of action because of injury so it's safe to assume that at least one UFC bantamweight title fight will happen before his return. With contrasting opinions surrounding his loss, it'll be interesting to see who "Suga" returns against, though.