The reign of “Sugar” Sean O’Malley came crashing down under the neon lights of the Las Vegas Sphere, as Merab Dvalishvili proved to be more than a match at UFC 306. O’Malley, full of swagger and confidence, believed he would put away “The Machine.” But in the chaos of the fight, he seemed to misjudge one critical detail—Merab’s relentless grappling prowess. The Georgian standout boasts an incredible 85 takedowns, the second-highest in UFC history, and that proved to be the key to dismantling O’Malley’s game.

It was that one miscalculation—a misjudgment of Dvalishvili’s ability to impose his will—that left “Sugar” struggling to find answers. Dvalishvili’s takedowns came in waves, and O’Malley found himself unable to fend off the relentless pressure. The result? A unanimous decision victory for Dvalishvili, extending his win streak to an impressive 11 fights, while O’Malley walked away with a bitter taste of defeat.

For O’Malley, the path to reclaiming his bantamweight crown is clear, but it won’t be easy. He’s still a name in the division, but as one veteran boxer pointed out, the “Sugar Show” needs to get back to serious work if he wants that belt back.

Legendary boxer points out one mistake that led to Sean O’Malley’s loss

While speaking to Overdogs, veteran boxer and Olympian Roy Jones Jr spoke about what ‘Sugar’ needed to be included in his fighting style. He mentioned how the former champion was an amazing striker but his ground game was still rough at the edges. He said, “I just don’t know what happened they said his hip was hurt or whatever but he’s such a good striker that I figured that if he hit the dude, it will be a problem cause he’s a really good striker you understand me?”

According to the legend the rainbow-haired striking machine needed to improve his ground game especially when he was fighting someone like Dvalishvili. He explained further, “And just seeing that makes me know that He probably doesn’t focus on the ground game as much. But when he fights those guys that Come from the Eastern Bloc you got to have a ground game. All of them idolise Khabib Nurmagomedov. They all come here with Khabib’s mindset and his fighting style. If you fight one of them, get Ready to go to the ground. Khabib’s dad used to make him wrestle a bear!”

Indeed when ‘The Eagle’ was young his father, the late Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov made him wrestle bears. So he learned grappling from nature itself. The Dagestani champion has fought real bears so it is no wonder that nobody in the division could ever out-wrestle him inside the octagon.

However, he also pointed out that maybe the newer generation of fighters was not ready to fight nature like he did. During an interview at the press conference for his newly open football academy, he mentioned this aspect of the new generation of fighters. During the interview, ‘The Eagle’ was questioned if there would be bears for training at the school.  Nurmagomedov jokingly responded stating, “We’re not gonna bring any bears. Right now, with the new generation, it’s not good.” He continued, “I don’t think they are ready to fight with bears. Even in the last 10 years, I have changed. You know I like morning wake up drink cappuccino, no more bears.” However, if Sean O’Malley and other fighters have to defeat athletes who mirror ‘The Eagle’ wrestling capacity, their ground game needs to be on point, the need for serious work was not only pointed out by Roy Jones Junior but even Daniel Cormier.

Daniel Cormier sheds light on what Sean O’Malley needs to work on

Even though he lost this fight to Merab Dvalishvili, it would not be a surprise to see O’Malley get a rematch after he has held the title for 13 months. However, the master kickboxer will have to improve his game especially when it comes to grappling. “The road back will be difficult [for Sean O’Malley], you know. It’s hard to get yourself back to that level once you’ve been there… He never gave up on himself, he should be proud of that. But he was in there with a guy that really will be a matchup problem for him every time that they fight,” ‘DC’ told fans on his YouTube channel.

DC wanted to see an exponential change in the former champions’ wrestling techniques. He might be the top-notch striker in the game but his ground game needs a lot of work. He does have a little defensive wrestling but is not adequate when it is against good wrestlers.

Echoing the same thoughts as Dana White and Roy Jones Jr, DC said that ‘Sugar’ was sluggish and slow in his last fight. He needs to learn how to defend takedowns better and react a little faster according to the former heavyweight champion. Even after the criticism, DC gave compliments where it was due. He did give O’Malley the credit for not giving up in the fight. Nonetheless, this chapter might have closed but a new chapter will soon open, and ‘Sugar’ is excited since UFC is moving into boxing. Do you think he is going to fight in the boxing ring as well? Do tell us below.