At UFC 306, Merab Dvalishvili cemented his status as the new bantamweight champion of the world after defeating Sean O’Malley. The Georgian fighter completely dominated the former champion to shine in the UFC Sphere event. Even the most ardent fight fans got to see a sight they don’t usually get to see during the fight. Well, something unusual happened during the second round of the match—Dvalishvili cornered O’Malley against the cage and kissed him multiple times before the bell rang. The MMA community was dumbfounded when they witnessed such a funny incident happen inside the Octagon but why did he do that?

Well, during the post-fight press conference, Dvalishvili was questioned about the tomfoolery, to which the new champion said, “And I know he can wait, and he’s not going to go sleep or tap this. And I want to make just a little fun of him, you know, and make him just. You know, I don’t hate the guy; just make fun of him, but same time, give a little kiss to show that I dominate, I control this fight, I break you, you know. That’s why I was kissing.”

This was a rather convincing answer from the new bantamweight champion but as we all know, Dvalishvili will not leave this topic until he adds an element of jester to it. Days after the event, the new champion took to his X handle to ascertain why he kissed Sean O’Malley inside the Octagon, “I wanted to explain what happened during the fight. When I got O’Malley in the choke, I heard the 10-second warning and knew I didn’t have enough time for a submission, so I decided to show him who the daddy of this fight was and gave his back a few kisses, LOL”

He further added, “When the ref touched me, I thought it was break time, so I started walking to my corner, but there were still 3 seconds left — he was just telling me to stop kissing him, LOL!” Humiliating your opponent when you are dominating him goes to another level when you understand that you can get into their heads. Regardless, the MMA community appears to be on a laughing spree after the confession.

Fans laugh it off as Merab Dvalishvili confesses the real reason why he kissed Sean O’Malley

Well, there was a time inside the Octagon when Herb Dean was angry at ‘Machine’ multiple times for his antics aimed at either Sean O’Malley or his coach, Tim Welch. At the start of the match, Dean gave a stern warning to the contender due to the fact that he called out Welch while he was fighting. The veteran referee even asked Dvalishvili to show some action rather than employing wrestling at one point during the match. Looking at this, a fan stated,  “Merab was facing Sean, Herb & Judges in that fight and still won.”

Merab Dvalishvili humiliated Sean O’Malley inside the Octagon as the official scoring was (49-46, 48-47, 48-47) which completely favored the ‘Machine.’ Looking at this a social media user wrote,  “Man’s stole his jacket, his belt, and gave him a daddy’s goodnight kiss.”

After clinching the belt from O’Malley, Joe Rogan asked Dvalishvili about his first title defense against Umar Nurmagomedov, to which the Georgian diverted the topic toward Dana White. At the post-fight press conference, Dvalishvili emphasized that he would like to fight former flyweight champion, Deiveson Figueiredo rather than Umar Nurmagomedov, who only has a single ranked win. However, a social media fan emphasized, “umar will give us the show sean didn’t”

Furthermore, a fan appears to be giving a reality check to the new champion,  “Herb dean was nowhere near him let alone touch him to break it up. Merab just can’t count down from 10.” Moreover, a fan appears to have some sour thoughts about the new champion,  “Yeah this was ridiculous. I’m glad he won but he will be another boring wrestling champion. But good dude.”

Last but not the least, a social media user called out O’Malley for his cheap shot,“O’Malley dirty for trying to cheap shot him  glad the UFC is Sugar free now.”

You might be wondering, is kissing legal in MMA? Surprisingly, it’s not illegal according to the unified MMA rules. However, biting is strictly prohibited. So, as long as biting isn’t involved, it’s technically allowed. Regardless, what’s your take on Merab Dvalishvili’s antics? State your thoughts in the comments below.