Sean O’Malley Labels Merab Dvalishvili 'The Greatest Bantamweight of All Time'

Sean O'Malley did everything he could to prepare for the rematch with Merab Dvalishvili.

He underwent surgery to repair his ailing hip, quit smoking marijuana, disconnected from social media and in general adopted an more focused mindset. Ultimately, it wasn’t enough. While “Suga” looked improved in the early going, Dvalishvili gradually asserted himself en route to a third-round submission victory in the UFC 316 headliner.

A few days removed from that defeat, O’Malley could do little more than tip his cap to his Georgian rival.

“He felt strong last time but this time he felt just freakishly strong,” O’Malley said on his YouTube channel. “He’s the greatest bantamweight of all time.”

The loss likely removes O’Malley from the title picture for the foreseeable future — especially for as long as Dvalishvili reigns atop the division. Nonetheless, the 30-year-old MMA Lab product seems to be at peace with his situation. Much of that has to do with his life outside the Octagon.

“So for me to be able to go through something like that and the next Sunday rolls around, Monday rolls around, I don’t feel sad at all,” O’Malley said. “I still feel very happy. I feel a little disappointed in the outcome. I feel like I’m frustrated but there’s no sadness inside of me.

“I’m holding my 14-day-old, Elena’s sleeping on my chest, [my wife] Dani’s right next to me, I’ll close my eyes and I’ll picture things: When he locked up the guillotine, I could have done something, could have done this, could have done that, but there’s nothing I can do about it now. Kind of onto the next thought, I’m not sitting in that f—king thought just unravel and go down a negative hole. I still feel very good.”

Looking ahead, O’Malley is intrigued by the possibility of a Dvalishvili rematch with Umar Nurmagomedov. “The Machine” successfully defended the 135-pound strap with a unanimous decision victory over Nurmagomedov at UFC 311 this past January.

"I feel like the Umar fight was very interesting," O'Malley said. "If Umar really broke his hand in the first round. I remember watching that first round and was like, 'Oh, f—k, Umar is doing good.' But also that's just how good Merab is. I'm excited to see how that plays out, too."