The Suga Show was halted in the Las Vegas Sphere as Sean O’Malley was beaten in his title fight against Merab Dvalishvili last night. The former bantamweight champion, of course, had promised not only that he would get ‘The Machine’ out of the octagon quickly, but also that he was not worried, at all, of the Georgian’s wrestling.

Well, he was proven spectacularly wrong on both counts by Dvalishvili. The Georgian dominated ‘Suga’ for almost the entire five rounds, and played with O’Malley using his world-class wrestling at will. A unanimous decision victory followed for Dvalishvili stretching his winning streak to 11 fights. As for O’Malley, he is still a big name in the division, but if he has to reclaim his title, serious work needs to be done, according to Daniel Cormier.

It wouldn’t be a surprise to see O’Malley get an instant rematch after he held the title for 13 months. But the kickboxing master will have to improve his game, especially given the fighting style of the new champion.

“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 about 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.

Predictably, the first and most important change Cormier wanted to see O’Malley make was in his wrestling. ‘Suga’, after all, is among the greatest strikers in all combat sports, but has next to nothing regarding a ground game. What little defensive wrestling he has, was also shown to be completely inadequate in the Dvalishvili fight. In addition, echoing Dana White’s take on the fight, the former heavyweight champ felt that ‘Suga’ looked uncharacteristically sluggish and slow in the fight.

“He’s just got to get better with the wrestling, better at the defending takedowns and he’s got to just really react a little earlier, I think. His reactions were a little slow that’s why Merab was able to knock him off of his feet,” he added. While O’Malley had to suffer because of his reaction time and not being up to speed, the same cannot be said of Dvalishvili, who proved his fight awareness during a pivotal round 2 moment.

After dominating the first round, Dvalishvili had a similar start to the next round. He got his opponent on the mat a few times and once again set the tone early on. But in an odd sequence, Dvalishvili thought the round ended due to referee Herb Dean’s instruction. He cut short his submission and walked away with time left on the clock. O’Malley tried to take advantage of the situation with a surprise attack, but the Georgian was able to avoid any significant damage.

O’Malley looking for a window to gain an upper hand and Dvalishvili easily fending off his advances, became a recurring theme for the remainder of the contest. Dvalishvili’s pace and ground game continuously troubled O’Malley, who was unable to land any significant offense for a sustained period of time.

Speaking immediately after the fight, Cormier also praised the new champion. Talking to ESPN after the fight, Cormier was asked how did the Georgian pull off the win to which he replied, “Merab went in there tonight and he did exactly what he’s done on this 11 fight win streak now. He’s overwhelming, he mauls you and he frustrates you to the point that he almost renders you helpless. This young man is going to be a good champion, he’s a dominant champion. I’m excited to see what the future holds.”

Many including  Daniel Cormier had thought that the bright lights of the Noche Riyadh event, for which UFC spent a reported $20 million, would help O’Malley. Cormier had suggested that the Sphere would bring a big match feel which suited O’Malley more. This wasn’t off the mark as well. The former bantamweight champion had 11 of his 12 UFC fights on pay-per-view while Dvalishvili had only been a part of four pay-per-views in 12 UFC appearances.

Although O’Malley didn’t talk to the media after the fight, he broke his silence via an X post. He wrote, “Over promised and under delivered. Sorry. Love you guys.” 

Meanwhile, not everything was doom and gloom in ‘DC’s analysis of O’Malley’s loss, as he did see some green shoots for the Montana native.

‘DC’ impressed with the heart Sean O’Malley showed in Dvalishvili’s loss

Despite the former champ getting rag-dolled by ‘The Machine’ in their UFC 306 main event bout, Cormier did give ‘Suga’ credit for not giving up. Doing that, of course, is always tempting for even the best fighters who find themselves outmatched, as Israel Adesanya did against Sean Strickland in their shocking UFC 293 clash last year, or indeed, as Leon Edwards did at UFC 304.

However, ‘DC’ felt that O’Malley’s team and fans should take heart in the fact that ‘Suga’ didn’t do that at any point in the fight, and even tried to go for a finish in the final round, which was the former champ’s best.

“If you’re a Sean O’Malley fan, you should be proud that your guy didn’t give up on himself, and he really did give himself a chance in round five. In round five he needed to go and try to get a finish and that’s exactly what he tried to do, you know,” Cormier said.

It seems ‘Suga’ quickly finishing Aljamain Sterling, another excellent wrestler (and Dvalishvili’s close friend) last year may have led to some hubris. The rainbow-haired striker seemed, at least from his pre-UFC 306 interviews, to believe that he would be able to do the same to ‘The Machine’ in their title clash.

Alas, he couldn’t have been more wrong and found that out the hard way on UFC 306. What are your thoughts on Daniel Cormier’s critique of O’Malley’s game?