It’s a tough time to be a “Suga” Stan, what with Merab Dvalishvili ruling the bantamweight division with an iron grip.
Dvalishvili submitted Sean O’Malley in the third round of their title rematch at UFC 316, tapping “Suga” with a North-South choke variation Merab called ‘the Machine choke.’ It was the Georgian fighter’s first stoppage win since 2021 and first submission win since 2017.
That’s gotta be a tough pill to swallow for all the O’Malley fans out there. Sean made it to the judges’ scorecards the first time around. Now, after completely reorganizing his life and shutting out all distractions, he gets finished.
If you want to see one glimpse into how “Suga” fans felt about the fight, there’s this hilarious clip from the mother of a young MMA fan who was having surgery the night of UFC 316. She captured the moment he woke up and was informed that Dvalishvili was still champ.
“Nick, I have really bad news,” she said. “I’m sorry. Sean O’Malley lost. It’s okay, baby. It’s okay. He was getting choked out. He tapped.
“Noooooo,” Nick groaned. “I hate Merab.”
“But Merab was crazy,” his mom replied.
Sounds like “The Machine” has a new fan.
The video has already made the rounds, to the point where Merab himself posted on it.
“Sorry,” the bantamweight champion commented.
No one knows what’s next for O’Malley, but the 30-year-old is already back in the gym. As for Dvalishvili, it looks like Cory Sandhagen is next, unless the UFC wants to go the champ-vs-champ route.
