At UFC 316, Merab Dvalishvili cemented his legacy as the bantamweight GOAT. Dismantling Sean O’Malley’s flashy defenses, The Machine became the first man to submit ‘Suga’—and he did it in style. Despite O’Malley’s valiant efforts to turn the tide, he was overwhelmed by Merab’s relentless pressure. In a humbling repeat of history, even O’Malley couldn’t deny it anymore, agreeing on the point that ‘The Machine’ is the undeniable king of the 135 lbs division.

In their first encounter at UFC 306, Merab Dvalishvili defeated Sean O’Malley via decision, claiming the bantamweight title. According to O’Malley, it was a humbling experience for him. Ahead of their rematch, ‘Suga’ prepared for war, asserting that he had been perfecting his ground game. However, on the day of reckoning, ‘The Machine’ not only finished him but also outstruck him completely.

While having a conversation on his YouTube handle, ‘The Timbo Sugar Show,’ O’Malley declared that Dvalishvili is arguably the greatest bantamweight of all-time, “I feel like I was able to show that camp. But just being on bottom – and I’ve trained with the best; we train with such good guys … It’s so weird. He just felt so f—ing compact and strong in there. (I feel like) I couldn’t do much. … (He’s the) greatest of all time – greatest bantamweight of all time.”

If you’ve been following the sport for a while, you’d understand just how huge this confession by O’Malley truly is. Before facing ‘The Machine,’ O’Malley believed he could toy with anyone in the division. Interestingly, it’s worth noting that since his last bout against Marlon Vera at UFC 299, O’Malley hasn’t looked like himself. The striking mastery he once showcased appears to have diminished.

Accepting his fate after the defeat, Sean O’Malley, in his comments, expressed that he is just at peace with himself right now, as he knows that he did everything in his power to emerge victorious, “It’s nice to not think about a fight right now because I do want to just chill for a few weeks,” O’Malley said. “It’s way better. Even if the UFC said, ‘We know what we want to do (with you next),’ I don’t even want to know right now. Just let me chill for five.”

In his recent conversation, the former bantamweight champion described how strong Merab Dvalishvili was inside the Octagon. Despite his best efforts to make him bleed, Dvalishvili somehow out struck him to the point that he couldn’t believe it. Let’s take a look at what he had to say.

Sean O’Malley and Tim Welch admit feeling nervous at UFC 316

To prepare for Merab Dvalishvili, Sean O’Malley stepped away from social media and eliminated all distractions from his life. Despite those efforts, what he encountered inside the Octagon was nothing short of a beast. During the conversation, Welch expressed that they did everything they could, but ‘The Machine’ was an unstoppable force inside the cage. “Second round, you did a great job wrestling more, and just like DC said, it felt like the tide was kind of turning towards us. But at the end of the day, I’m like, that Merab—I feel like—was already a different Merab than we fought at the Sphere,” said Welch.

Chiming in on the topic, O’Malley stated that for the first time he felt nervous inside the Octagon, “I definitely was more—I definitely felt this kind of nervous feeling that I’m not used to, just because of how the first fight played out. Knowing his cardio is so crazy, knowing if it hits the ground… I knew I had worked on the takedown defense so much, I knew I was able to get up,” said O’Malley.

He further added, “But I’m like—I also know there’s a chance that this fight plays out the same way it did. So I was like, in the back, that was there. I was more nervous this fight, probably, than I’ve ever been. Like, do you feel vulnerable? You’re in the cage like, ‘All right, this [ __ ] grabs a hold of me, there’s a chance that I can’t get away from this little f—–r.”

So, what’s next for Sean O’Malley? Well, the fighter has a ton of fights for him. Be it a trilogy against Marlon Vera to a rematch against Petr Yan, but for now, we will have to wait for that to happen.