UFC bantamweight star Sean O’Malley, known for his flashy style, lost to Merab Dvalishvili for the first time at UFC 306. At the time, he didn’t just lose his title — he also lost a lot of hype and fans’ confidence in him. After preparing for months, the American finally got a chance to bounce back at UFC 316, but things didn’t go his way again.
Fans Rip Into Sean O’Malley After UFC 316 Loss
Before UFC 316, O’Malley made the news not only for his training sessions with legends like Demetrious Johnson but also for his big lifestyle change. After losing his bantamweight title at UFC 306 in September 2024, he had hip surgery to fix a torn labrum, which, according to him, affected that fight.
Once he recovered, he gave up marijuana, social media, and other distractions to find some “inner peace.” It was predicted that the fighter would finish the rematch in his favor, and his coach, Tim Welch, also predicted on his YouTube video that Suga would capitalize on a mistimed takedown attempt from Dvalishvili to cut the Georgian open and eventually win via TKO.
However, reality was far from those predictions. There was no cut on either fighter. The Machine was able to take O’Malley down multiple times and landed some pretty good counter shots as well, and he ultimately tapped out to Dvalishvili’s North-South choke in Round 3 of the fight.
After all the hype surrounding his chances, some fans were pretty upset when O’Malley couldn’t handle The Machine and ended up tapping out of the bout. Many started to comment on social media that the fighter should retire. One user wrote, “Suga show’s over.”
Suga show’s over
— Squanto (@Squanto____) June 8, 2025
Another user felt that O’Malley didn’t even do anything in the rematch, and it’s time for him to retire.
And some people thought that Sean O’Malley had a chance of winning… 🤣🤣🤣🤣 Did he even do anything in this fight? lmaooooo. That was light work for Merab Dvalishvili. Maybe it’s time to retire O’Malley.#UFC316
— Matt 🇳🇴 (@thcfastestman) June 8, 2025
One user believes that Suga will now move up to featherweight or will ply his trade in influencer boxing.
😂😂😂 omalleys running to FW 100% or maybe Influencer boxing
— nick (@Nickev97) June 8, 2025
One MMA fan commented, “O’Malley just trained his a** off for over a year to look like s***.”
Omalley just trained his ass off for over a year to look like shit 🔥🔥🔥
— FP💰 (@FuckParlays) June 8, 2025
Another fan wrote, “O’malley trained just to be worse. He didn’t belong in there.” The American’s former opponent Petr Yan took a shot at him, saying that’s what happens when someone didn’t “earn” their position. Fans felt like O’Malley’s sacrifices were of no use.
Suga was no match for Dvalishvili’s endless pressure and cardio. It was more shameful for O’Malley because The Machine is not known for finishing his opponents. He won his last five fights via decision, but he ended that unfavorable streak with a win through submission on Saturday.
O’Malley’s Response and the Road Ahead
O’Malley obviously wasn’t happy with the way the fight ended. But he has been through losses before and has come back stronger. During the post-fight interview inside the octagon, O’Malley accepted the defeat and credited his opponent.
“I didn’t feel like it was going to go like that,” he said. “Unfortunately, it did. Merab is a m***********. I just wanna stick around and thank everyone that came out and supported us.” The American fighter thanked the fans for their support and spoke about how he was looking forward to spending some time with his family now.
O’Malley will now have to once again prove himself worthy of a title shot by fighting against top bantamweight fighters like Umar Nurmagomedov. It’s unlikely that he would move to featherweight to fight bigger challenges. Nevertheless, while his opponent faces scrutiny, Dvalishvili’s stock continues to rise.