Helena's Sean O'Malley loses belt to Merab Dvalishvili

PARADISE, Nev. — Sean O’Malley met his match Saturday night and lost his Bantamweight title to challenger Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306 at Sphere in Las Vegas.

Dvalishvili beat O’Malley by unanimous decision in a five-round championship bout that culminated a unique and eye-catching event at the $2 billion Sphere.

The 5-foot-6 Dvalishvili gave the 5-11 O’Malley trouble with his grappling ability and managed to avoid a trademark knockout blow from O’Malley, who is a superior striker.

The final scores from the three-judge panel were 49-46, 48-47, 48-47 in favor of the 33-year-old Dvalishvili. O'Malley, a 29-year-old Helena native and perhaps the biggest American superstar currently in UFC, lost the world title belt he had originally won in August 2023 with a second-round TKO of Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292 in Boston.

"I made Sean O'Malley look normal," Dvalishvili, who hails from Tbilisi, Georgia, said in the post-fight press conference. "Sean is (a) tough fighter. But today I'm the best."

O'Malley was not expected to do any post-fight interviews.

PHOTOS: Sean O'Malley fights Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306 for bantamweight title

The opening bell rang out at 11:32 p.m. but the bout was almost immediately paused by referee Herb Dean as each fighter's corner was yelling back and forth at the other, according to UFC CEO Dana White.

After that brief stoppage, the fight resumed without further interruption. Three minutes into the opening round, Dvalishvili took O’Malley to the canvas, which came after O’Malley landed a strike that marked Dvalishvili’s nose.

Dvalishvili, though, again took O’Malley to the ground later in the first round, which proved to a theme for the remainder of the fight.

In the second round Dvalishvili again got O’Malley to the canvas for the third time in his first four attempts. In that sequence, O’Malley was reprimanded by the referee for grabbing the inside of Dvalishvili’s glove.

In one bizarre moment, Dvalishvili was warned by the referee for supposedly “kissing” O’Malley while he had a hold of O’Malley along the edge of the cage. Dvalishvili let go, then O’Malley landed two strikes to the back of Dvalishvili’s head before the end of the second round.

O’Malley landed two strong lefts and connected with a knee toward the end of the third round, which saw the fighters mostly on their feet. At the end of that round, Dvalishvili nose had been noticeably affected.

In the fourth round, Dvalishvili again forced O’Malley to the ground. Dvalishvili, though, was bleeding from a right hook O’Malley had landed moments earlier. Still, Dvalishvili remained on top of O’Malley for more than a minute.

O’Malley returned to his feet but couldn’t escape, and Dvalishvili continued to work over O’Malley on the canvas after another takedown. At that point, Dvalishvili was clearly taking advantage of his skill as a grappler.

Dvalishvili took O’Malley down 1:30 into the fifth and final round. O’Malley later landed a strong left strike and appeared to finished with a flurry, including a kick and a knee to Dvalishvili’s head. But it wasn’t enough to prevent the judges from giving Dvalishvili the belt.

With the loss, O'Malley's record slipped to 18-2 (with one no contest). This was his second attempt at a title defense; O'Malley successfully defended the belt against Marlon Vera by unanimous decision at UFC 299 in Miami in March.

Dvalishvili, the new champion, moved to 17-5 and now has an 11-fight winning streak. He has now won four bouts against fighters who previously held championship belts, with the others being Jose Aldo, Peter Yan and Henry Cejudo.