“Great fight week, best weight cut, felt good, no excuses,” Sean O’Malley had said after losing his bantamweight title to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306 Noche through a unanimous decision on September 14. It was a remarkable striker vs. grappler matchup with Merab’s takedowns mostly canceling O’Malley’s counter-strikes through five rounds. Merab’s grappling success didn’t go unnoticed as reflected in the scores of the three judges (49-46, 48-47, 48-47). And initially, it looked like Suga had accepted his defeat. Wrong we were!

A few days removed from the event, “Suga” changed his mind. On September 19, O’Malley re-watched his fight with Dvalishvili for the first time, live-tweeting his reaction to the event. And disputing the judges, he came back to claim that he should have won the decision by taking rounds 1, 3, and 5. Without letting that go, Merab took to his X to counter it.

‘The Machine’ tweeted, “I hear O’Malley thinks he won the fight and is looking for a rematch. If he wants it, he can have it. Let’s do it November 16th at the Garden, and then I’ll still defend the title against whoever the UFC wants me to fight next. What do you think?”. For the unversed, Merab was referring to the UFC 309, scheduled to take place at Madison Square Garden in New York. It looks like the battle between the two is far from over, as Suga has not only responded to it but has also teased Merab with his possible next opponent.

On his X ‘Suga’ X Suga replied, “Getting surgery Oct 3rd. Fought you with one hip and still beat you. Round 1,3,5. I’m the champion. Fight Umnar.” Here goes Suga’s verdict on each of the rounds after he revisited the fight clip.

• “Round 1. I won that round 100%!! Based on damage that’s my round”
• “Round 2 def lost. Took very little damage tho.”
• “Round 3 was closer than round 1 in my opinion. My round. Up 2-1 going into round 4.”
• “Round 4 Merabs round for sure. 2-2 going into the 5th.”
• “Round 5 I won. I am the champ,” O’Malley added. “God is good. 1,3,5 round I won. Defending belt against Umar [Nurmagomedov] in Vegas June/July.”

Not only this, Suga went on to declare that Merab was “terrified” of Umar. Interestingly, this is not the first time he has contested a loss like this. After his first career defeat came against Chito Vera in 2020, “Suga” repeatedly referred to himself as undefeated heading into their rematch, and also claimed he “won” his No-Contest against Pedro Munhoz. But on this occasion. how far justified Suga’s claims are?

As things stand, Merab took Suga down in every round. Suga’s brightest moment in the fight came in the fifth round when he appeared to hurt Merab with a T-kick to the stomach. Merab visibly grimaced and moved away. But took Suga down six times and held 10:03 of control. Alongside, he outclassed Suga 82 to 47 in significant strikes. To put it in short, Suga had no answer to the Georgian’s wrestling prowess. In fact, Former champion Dominick Cruz praised Merab for the fight.

“Merab is fighting very smart so far. He is using forward pressure like always, however the feints and the kicks to set up his boxing is connecting him to the takedowns on Omally, and he’s holding him down very well also. Very smart tactics for Merab,” Cruz noted. While the war of words does not look to stop soon, at the moment, Suga is set to take a break from the Octagon to take care of his health.

After the fight, Sean O’Malley went to his YouTube channel to discuss his injury. The 29-year-old revealed that he had torn his left labrum in his training camp, which kind of hindered his movement. O’Malley also pointed out that he is willing to focus on his recovery and can even be out of action for a year. So the possibility of a rematch with him is definitely out of the cards for ‘The Machine.’ This now probably leaves Dvalishvili with only one opponent in hand, and that’s Umar Nurmagomedov. 

Umar Nurmagomedov mocks Merab Dvalishvili with his tweet on X

Newly crowned bantamweight king Merab Dvalishvili has become the number one target for many fighters. Particularly from the Dagestani sensation Umar Nurmagomedov, who was present at the recently concluded UFC 306 event. Even before Merab’s win in the UFC 306, Khabib himself had teased the fight between them.

However, Dvalishvili is not eager to defend his title this soon, and definitely not against the undefeated Nurmagomedov. Instead, Dvalishvili has shown his willingness to fight the #5-ranked contender Deiveson Figueiredo, stating, “He’s a more dangerous guy. It excites me more.” Since then, the rivalry between Nurmagomedov and Dvalishvili has reached its pinnacle, with ‘Team Khabib’ finally responding to all such claims, alleging that Merab is ‘running away’ from the fight.

Umar is currently on a roll in the promotion and is unbeaten in his UFC career. The Dagestani fighter’s last victory against Cory Sandhagen pushed him to the #2 spot, and he is in line to challenge for the belt next. However, the 28-year-old is not at all impressed with the way the champion is dealing with the situation. ‘Young Eagle’ finally took to his X account to respond to Merab’s willingness for a rematch with Suga.

Recently, this tension was reignited when Dvalishvili showed his willingness to fight Sean O’Malley in a rematch. ‘Young Eagle’ took to his X account to answer the claims. He tweeted, “He’s ready to fight with anyone except Umar Nurmagomedov.” Nurmagomedov’s frustration towards Dvalishvili is pretty justifiable as he has earned himself a title shot with his performances. Hopefully, the UFC can solve this puzzle and give the fans their title shot fight in the bantamweight division. Who do you think Merab Dvalishvili will defend his title against next?