Being one of the UFC’s most marketable stars, Sean O’Malley got what many fans wanted — a high-stakes rematch against Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 316, held on June 7, 2025, at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. In their first bout at UFC 306, Merab dominated ‘Suga’ with relentless grappling and cardio, and unfortunately for O’Malley, history repeated itself. This time, Dvalishvili secured a submission victory via north-south choke in the third round, defending his bantamweight title decisively.

Sean O’Malley took all the necessary steps, according to himself, to fix the holes in the game that Merab Dvalishvili exposed. Abstaining from social media and changing his lifestyle, he claimed to have become seventy percent better than UFC 306. But in the wake of the same outcome in the rematch, the obvious move now is for the former champion to go back to the drawing board. He’s eager to get back into the title picture, but getting one or a couple of wins won’t cut it because O’Malley believes he needs to get a strong winning streak. That would perhaps convince Dana White to give him another title shot, while Dvalishvili is still champion.

“For me to earn another shot at Merab, I’ve gotta be undeniable. I have to go on a streak. I have to win a lot of fights in a row,” Sean O’Malley told Ariel Helwani on the latter’s self-titled YouTube show. “And there’s a world that happens… I know I’m capable of beating Merab. I also know he’s capable of beating me. But there’s going to be a part of me that always wants to get that one back.”

The former champion appears confident that he might just get back to Merab Dvalishvili. Explaining how he avenged his loss to Marlon Vera at UFC 299, he believes getting another shot at ‘The Machine’ should not be an impossible task. However, there seems to be no urgency in doing that because O’Malley claims that even if he doesn’t get to do what he wants, he won’t have any regrets when he hangs up his gloves for good.

“He’s the only guy that ever beat me. Chito beat me, but I got that one back. I proved that one played out the way it was supposed to the first time,” ‘Suga’ added. “That one [The losses to Merab], I don’t wanna say bug me because at the end of the day, if I play out my career and 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. But I’m happy for him.”

After all, Sean O’Malley had already opened up about missing out on regaining the title a week ago. And guess what? He’s disappointed, yes. But is he sad? Well, ‘Suga’ appears to be happy, which he claims to be a skill. Let’s take a look at that front.

Sean O’Malley is happy despite the loss

Sean O’Malley, as we have mentioned already, isn’t feeling down after the loss. He claims to be able to get through situations like this, which he appears to be proud of. When it came to his fight, though, he believes there were certain moments when he could have done something different to have the ball in his court against Merab Dvalishvili. However, O’Malley does not want to spend his time whining about something that is now in the past.

“Happiness is a skill. So for me to be able to go through something like that and then the next Sunday rolls around, Monday rolls around, I don’t feel sad at all – I still feel really happy. I feel a little disappointed in the outcome,” Sean O’Malley said on his YouTube channel. “I’ll close my eyes and I’ll picture things like when I started locking up the guillotine, I could’ve done something. I could’ve done this. I could’ve done that. But I’m like, ah, man – there’s nothing I can do about it now… I still feel very good.”

Well, Sean O’Malley is a champion fighter, and he will more than likely make his way back into the title picture. Also, the fact that he’s being mature about his loss also shows growth, and it will be interesting to see what lies ahead for ‘Suga’. Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below. Do you think Dana White would agree with O’Malley’s claim?