Merab Dvalishvili Submits Sean O’Malley to Retain Bantamweight Championship – UFC 316 Highlights

Merab Dvalishvili delivered one of his most dominant performances inside the Octagon on Saturday night, submitting Sean O’Malley to retain the bantamweight world title at UFC 316.

The opening round saw Dvalishvili seemingly outstrike O’Malley and land a nice takedown that put him in top control. To O’Malley’s credit, he managed to fight his way back up and avoided hitting the mat throughout the second stanza. Despite that, it appeared that ‘The Machine’ was landing the more impactful strikes through the first 10 minutes.

After a relatively close second, Dvalishvili was ready to take things to the mat almost immediately, shooting in for a takedown and sending ‘Sugar’ crashing to the mat. Dvalishvili settled into O’Malley’s guard and kept him there for the next couple of minutes until O’Malley managed to inch himself toward the fence and wall-walk his way back up.

Unfortunately for O’Malley, Dvalishvili quickly returned him to the mat each time he’d expend energy getting upright.

While trying to get off the canvas once again, O’Malley left his neck open, allowing Dvalishvili to lock in an anaconda choke. Despite his best efforts to defend, ‘Sugar’ has no choice but to tap out, bringing an end to the bout.

Official Result: Merab Dvalishvili def. Sean O’Malley via submission (anaconda choke) at 4:42 of Round 3.

Check Out Highlights From Merab Dvalishvili vs. Sean O’Malley at UFC 316: