Despite Dvalishvili’s reluctance, Abdelaziz expects his fighter Umar Nurmagomedov (18-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) to get the next title shot. If victorious, Abdelaziz wants to see Nurmagomedov fight O’Malley in his first title defense, even though O’Malley would be coming off a lopsided title loss.

Though in the immediate aftermath O’Malley offered “no excuses,” on Thursday “Suga” changed his tune, disputing the judging in the fight, claiming to still be the 135-pound champion, and saying he will defend the title against Umar Nurmagomedov next summer.

Less than a week after winning UFC gold, Merab Dvalishvili has continued to terrorize Sean O'Malley in a hilarious manner. The proud Georgian became the second ever fighter from his country to capture a UFC title.

Sean O'Malley's scorecard for UFC 306 might look different from yours. We're days removed from the UFC's one-and-done show at the Sphere, which saw Merab Dvalishvili (18-4) end a year-long title reign for bantamweight champion O'Malley (18-2,

Sean O’Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili didn’t go the way Chito Vera had expected it to. Rather than a quick knockout for O’Malley’s ever-growing highlight reel, the UFC 306 main event turned out to be a one-sided title fight for Dvalishvili with the challenger taking the champ down six times en route to a unanimous decision

If now-former UFC men’s bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley didn’t quite look like his usual self at UFC 306 when he lost his title via unanimous decision to Merab Dvalishvili, an injury sustained during his preparations could have been a contributing factor.