The UFC has a new bantamweight champion and his name is Merab Dvalishvili.
Over the course of five rounds, Dvalishvili (18-4 MMA, 11-2 UFC) dominated Sean O'Malley (18-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC) for a unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46) to earn title gold in the UFC 306 main event. The card was double-branded as Noche UFC, the promotion’s Mexican Independence Day celebration, which took place at Sphere in Las Vegas.
Dvalishvili was draped all over O’Malley for much of five rounds. He utilized an aggressive, pressure-creating attack to fluster O’Malley’s offense, which was largely nonexistent. His cardio and pace proved to once again be the difference and reinforced his nickname “The Machine,”
