Latest news with #MerabDvalishvili
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Cory Sandhagen: Sean O'Malley fought scared against Merab Dvalishvili in UFC 316 rematch
Cory Sandhagen has been studying UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili closely. "The Sandman" was the most invested party in attendance at UFC 316 when Dvalishvili rematched his rival Sean O'Malley earlier this month in Newark, New Jersey. After Dvalishvili scored a third-round submission win over O'Malley, Sandhagen was front and center to make his own presence felt. Advertisement Speaking on Wednesday's edition of "The Ariel Helwani Show," the top contender shared his sympathy for the former champion O'Malley after losing a second straight fight to Dvalishvili. "I kind of thought O'Malley would do a little bit better. He didn't do so hot," Sandhagen said. "He definitely seemed a little off. So I kind of feel for the dude, too. I think he made some pretty big changes in his life. I hear him talk all the time about signs that the universe sends him from wherever it's coming from, and he was getting all the signs and stuff [that he was going to win]. I've been in a situation where I thought that everything was really lined up for things to go my way and then not had them go that way, so I feel for the dude. "It definitely wasn't the best performance in the world, but Merab looks like he just keeps getting better and better, so good for Merab too." Sandhagen reestablished himself as the likely next title challenger this past May with a second-round knockout of former flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC Des Moines. The fact that his win came sandwiched between the pair of Dvalishvili vs. O'Malley fights helped keep Sandhagen in the conversation. Advertisement O'Malley's initial loss to Dvalishvili in September appeared to set the table for Sandhagen to get a fight with the former champ. Instead, the promotion went the instant rematch route for "Sugar," which led Sandhagen toward Figueiredo. In that first Dvalishvili vs. O'Malley clash, the latter survived all 25 minutes and lost a unanimous decision, but the differences between O'Malley's two performances were clear for Sandhagen. "The first fight, the whole vibe of the fight was that Sean wasn't in control that much," Sandhagen said. "Even though maybe round-by-round, if you want to look at it under a microscope, it was kind of close, but the vibe of the fight was that he wasn't winning. This fight [at UFC 316], to me, he didn't look hardly in control at all. Everyone, especially in this fight, was kind of saying, 'Sean will knock him out, Sean has a puncher's chance, blah, blah, blah.' But the more I thought about it — man, Merab doesn't give you a ton of opportunities to step in and get hit. "Merab moves backward when he gets hit, and it's really hard to knock out a guy that, when you hit him, he's going away from the energy of the shot that you're throwing. So he's definitely just a tough guy to knock out for that reason because he's really hard to catch on the hard step, and that's when O'Malley hits people the best. [O'Malley] was kind of afraid of the wrestling, you could tell. It just wasn't that great." Advertisement Nothing has been made official yet regarding Sandhagen's role as the division's next title challenger, but that was the direction hinted at as UFC 316 came to a close, with Dvalishvili welcoming the challenge. The pair had a brief interaction backstage, which Sandhagen revealed to be cordial. Regardless of everyone seemingly being on board with the fight in theory, Sandhagen says he hasn't been "100%" promised by the UFC that he's next up. "It would be a really big, giant letdown, and I would probably start crying if I wasn't the guy after all of that," he said with a laugh. Advertisement Sandhagen, 33, is no stranger to difficult stylistic bouts and high-pressure wrestling scenarios. Take his most recent loss, a unanimous decision against Umar Nurmagomedov this past August, for example. Nurmagomedov gave Sandhagen all he could handle and ultimately pushed the American to arguably his best career performance, even in defeat. Against Dvalishvili, Sandhagen believes he has what it takes to stop a seemingly unstoppable champion. "The conditioning pays off for him big time," Sandhagen said of Dvalishvili. "He's not the most intimidating guy to go into a fight against in terms of getting finished — outside of, of course, him adding in some submission threats, which I'm sure he's going to continue to do. But Merab deserves a lot of respect to be put on his name, by all means. I also think too, though, that if you fight Merab in the proper way, you can be as much of a motherf***er to Merab as he is to everyone else. You kind of just have to know how to do that. "The last two wins that he's had, have been people who move their feet a ton. And I just know, speaking from experience, that will get you really tired, and it kind of seems like a little bit of a compensate way to stay away from clinching and wrestling the guy. I'm not afraid to wrestle. You guys saw in the Umar fight that if I get taken down, I will get up immediately if I want to. That's just a pain in the ass to fight. Not to mention that Merab makes a lot of wide movements with his hands — he's pretty darty and looks fidgety and difficult to hit. But he makes a lot of mistakes with his hands. "I kind of plan on master-classing Merab," Sandhagen continued. "I just have to out-MMA him everywhere and not be scared to wrestle with him or scared to get tired. That's like 101 in learning how to fight wrestlers. If you're scared to get tired, you're going to lose. Umar did not do that, but Sean, I think, was a little bit afraid to get tired in that one, and I think that kind of works in the inverse a lot of the time because then you just start moving your feet a lot more and just makes you more tired in the long run. So there's a lot there, but I'm excited to face the challenge."
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Rose Namajunas 'proud' of disclosed fight purse from UFC Atlanta
Sean O'Malley embarrassed seeing Cody Garbrandt at UFC Atlanta: 'Oh, that's how people see me' Sean O'Malley calls in after his defeat to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 316 to break down the submission loss, his viral lifestyle changes, differences in the rematch, his future at featherweight, the state of the bantamweight division.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Sean O'Malley knows he must become 'undeniable' to earn another UFC title shot, teases fight news soon
Sean O'Malley has lost back-to-back fights for the first time in his MMA career. The former UFC bantamweight champion seems to have met his kryptonite in the form of Georgia's Merab Dvalishvili. After taking O'Malley's title with a lopsided unanimous decision this past September, Dvalishvili was even more dominant in the recent rematch at UFC 316, submitting O'Malley with a north-south choke in the third round. Advertisement O'Malley, 30, is now in a difficult spot at bantamweight, owning consecutive losses to the reigning champion. Speaking on Monday's edition of "The Ariel Helwani Show," O'Malley kept his expectations realistic regarding a path back to another UFC title shot. "I feel like for me to earn another shot at Merab, I've got to be undeniable," Dvalishvili said. "I have to go on a streak. I have to win a lot of fights in a row, and there's a world that happens. I definitely know I'm capable of beating Merab. I also know he's capable of beating me. There's going to be part of me that always wants to get that one back. He's the only guy to ever beat me. [Marlon] 'Chito' [Vera] beat me, but I got that one back. I proved that one played out the way it was supposed to the first time. "So that one [against Dvalishvili], I don't want to say bugs me because, at the end of the day, if I play out my career and I never get that one back, I'll be happy with how everything played out. But there's a world where I'm undeniable and get that one back. Advertisement "I'm happy for him," O'Malley added of Dvalishvili. "At the end of the day, I don't hold anything [against him]. Merab's f***ing on a crazy streak right now. He's the greatest bantamweight of all time." In truth, the best-case scenario for O'Malley would likely be for Dvalishvili to drop the title in his next fight, no matter the challenger. That way, the door swings right back open for O'Malley and there's no need to move up in weight in order to expedite his championship aspirations. O'Malley has always been open to the idea of eventually moving to the 145-pound featherweight class, he said. But despite the championship roadblock he now faces at bantamweight, the former champ still prefers to stick with the weight class that's been his longtime home. "I wouldn't say immediate future," O'Malley said of a potential featherweight move. "I was talking to [coach] Tim [Welch] about that the other day. It's like, I can make [135 pounds]. It sucks, I suffer, I die. Everyone does it. They get down to their weight. Advertisement "I know I'm stronger than I felt in there, but I don't know how much [stronger], if losing a certain amount of muscle makes sense to get to '35 for me. But I don't know. Still, definitely [my] next fight will be at '35, for sure. But eventually, someday, yeah, I think we'll move up. "[The cuts are] all always equally as hard," he added. "They're all nine, 10 out of 10 hard. You're on the brink of f***ing feeling like you're going to die, but you get there. We get there." Unlike the first Dvalishvili loss last year, O'Malley came out of the rematch relatively unscathed. He feels healthy and pretty good overall, but reiterates that fighters are never truly at 100% for any fight. Still, a quicker return can be expected for the former champion this time. Advertisement Though reluctant to share the name, O'Malley confirmed has a name in mind of who he'd ideally like to fight next. He teased potential fight news soon, so now it's just a waiting game. "One hundred percent, I'll fight again this year. The question is when," O'Malley said. "To be determined. We'll see how things play out. "I'm going to see how this week goes. I gave myself a solid week, 10 days, to just kind of relax, and I'm going to see how I feel this week. I don't have an answer for you right now, but I'm going to see how I feel this week."
Al Jazeera
6 days ago
- Sport
- Al Jazeera
Dvalishvili crushes O'Malley in UFC bantamweight fight; Usman beats Buckley
Merab Dvalishvili has effortlessly defeated Sean O'Malley in the main event of the Mixed Martial Art's (MMA) Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 316 night in New Jersey, United States (US), securing a third-round modified choke win in their rematch to retain the bantamweight championship. With United States President Donald Trump watching from cageside on Saturday, Dvalishvili (win-loss record of 20-4 MMA) emphatically displayed his wrestling base to tire out the former champion and make an argument as one of the sport's best bantamweights, perhaps of all time. Dvalishvili, who won at 4:42 of the third round for his 13th consecutive victory, said he would welcome his next title defence against Cory Sandhagen (win-loss record of 18-5 in MMA), a winner of four of his last five fights. 'You're the man, let's go,' Dvalishvili said, indicating that he would be interested in fighting Sandhagen next. O'Malley confirmed the loss is a minor setback, reassuring of a steady return. '100 percent, thank you guys for coming out,' he said. The women's bantamweight title changed hands in the co-main event, as Kayla Harrison submitted Julianna Pena with a second-round kimura. Harrison and Pena embraced in the Octagon afterwards, showing utmost class for one another after Harrison controlled every aspect of the fight. Harrison said during her post-fight interview that her weight cut was so draining on Thursday night that she 'wanted to quit', but it would have been a mistake in her eyes, given that most fighters in MMA do not win a UFC title. Former UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt fell short against Raoni Barcelos in a lacklustre affair by unanimous decision, 29-28, 29-28, 29-28. In middleweight action, Mansur Abdul-Malik earned a technical decision over Cody Brundage 30-27, 29-28, 29-28. Abdul-Malik nearly had a third-round total knockout 36 seconds in, but an accidental clash of heads changed the direction of the fight, thus needing the judges to intervene. Later, at UFC Fight Night in Atlanta, Kamaru Usman returned to winning ways as he defeated Joaquin Buckley 49-46, 49-46, 48-47 in a unanimous decision in the main event. 'Those knockouts will come,' Usman said after his win. 'I just needed to get that monkey off my back.' The first two rounds of the headline welterweight attraction saw Usman (win-loss record of 21-4 in MMA) pitch the equivalent of a shutout, effortlessly taking Buckley (win-loss record of 21-7 in MMA) down and utilising his ground-and-pound to outstrike the St Louis, US, native 16-0 in the significant strikes category. Round 3 started strong for Buckley as he found his striking range before Usman achieved his third takedown in four attempts. Round 4 was primarily on the feet, as Buckley landed his best combinations of the fight but could not secure a comeback finish. Usman took Buckley down again, securing the back mount position as the round ended. Round 5 saw both men trade blows, but it was too little, too late for Buckley, who had a six-fight unbeaten streak snapped. It was Usman's first win since he held the title in November 2021. Buckley was gracious in defeat, suffering his first loss at welterweight. 'We're just getting started, baby,' Buckley said. 'We'll be back.' The co-main event also needed the cards, as former two-time strawweight champion Rose Namajunas earned a highly competitive unanimous decision, 30-27, 30-27, 29-28 over Miranda Maverick. In middleweight, Edmen Shahbazyan nearly finished Andre Petroski with a would-be third-round total knockout before walking away with a unanimous decision, 30-27, 30-27, 29-28. The win marked Shahbazyan's first stretch of back-to-back wins since 2019, his first decision win since 2018. The UFC's schedule goes international with a Fight Night instalment a week from Saturday in Azerbaijan, headlined by a light heavyweight non-championship five-rounder between former champion Jamahal Hill (12-3 MMA) and ex-title challenger Khalil Rountree Jr (14-6 MMA).
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
How to Watch UFC 316: Merab Dvalishvili vs. Sean O'Malley Rematch Live Online
Variety and Yahoo may earn commission from links in this article. Pricing and availability subject to change. If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. The UFC heads to 'The Garden State' for UFC 316. The main event is a highly-anticipated rematch title bout as Merab 'The Machine' Dvalishvili (19-4-0) defends his bantamweight championship belt against Sean 'Suga' O'Malley (18-2-0). Advertisement More from Variety UFC 316: Dvalishvili vs. O'Malley takes place at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on Saturday, June 7. Early prelims is set to begin at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT, while the prelims start at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The main card kicking off at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT. Buy: UFC 316 PPV Feed on ESPN+ $79.99 In Sept. 2024, Dvalishvili took the title away from O'Malley in an unanimous decision during UFC 306. Although O'Malley is looking for revenge and steal the bantamweight title back, Dvalishvili is confident he's going to remain championship at the end of UFC 316. 'I'm super-motivated and I believe I'm a better fighter (than the last time we fought),' says Dvalishvili in an interview on 'I have to win, but Sean always has a chance. Even though I am a better fighter than him, it's a fight, it's a sport, and anything is possible, which is why I have to make sure I fight hard and smart at the same time.' How to Watch UFC 316 Online UFC 316 is a pay-per-view (PPV) event that's available to stream exclusively on ESPN+. The only way to watch the MMA event is to purchase the PPV feed here. Advertisement The UFC 316 PPV price is $79.99 for ESPN+ subscribers. But, if you're not, then you can sign up for a ESPN+ monthly subscription and PPV for $91.98, or purchase an ESPN+ yearly subscription with the PPV stream for $134.98 — a 33% savings of the monthly price. $134.98 $199.98 33% off BUY: ESPN+ ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION with UFC 316 PPV In addition, you can sign up for the Disney Trio, which includes in ESPN+, Hulu and Disney+ starting at $16.99/month. Since this is an official PPV fight, there isn't a way to watch UFC 316 online for free. However, the early prelims and prelims stream on Disney+ and ESPN+ for subscribers, while the prelims broadcast on cable networks ESPN on TV — which is available via Fubo, Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV and DirecTV. Advertisement Meanwhile, both the early prelims and prelims livestream on Disney+ and ESPN+, so it might be worth signing up for Disney Trio for the event. You can livestream UFC 316: Dvalishvili vs. O'Malley online with ESPN+, with the pay-per-view feed for $79.99 for access to the entire event. Buy: UFC 316 PPV Feed on ESPN+ Main Card, 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT — PPV Bantamweight: Merab Dvalishvili (champion) vs. Sean O'Malley — Main Event, Title Fight Women's Bantamweight: Julianna Peña (champion) vs. Kayla Harrison — Co-Main Event, Title Fight Middleweight: Kelvin Gastelum vs. Joe Pyfer Bantamweight: Mario Bautista vs. Patchy Mix Welterweight: Vicente Luque vs. Kevin Holland Prelims, 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT — ESPN, Disney+, ESPN+ Flyweight: Bruno Gustavo da Silva vs. Joshua Van Light Heavyweight: Azamat Murzakanov vs. Brendson Ribeiro Heavyweight: Serghei Spivac vs. Waldo Cortes-Acosta Welterweight: Khaos Williams vs. Andreas Gustafsson Early Prelims, 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT — Disney+, ESPN+ Women's Flyweight: Ariane da Silva vs. Wang Cong Featherweight: Jeka Saragih vs. Yoo Joo-sang Lightweight: Quillan Salkilld vs. Yanal Ashmouz Lightweight: MarQuel Mederos vs. Mark Choinski Best of Variety Sign up for Variety's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
