Sean O'Malley makes surprising admission about Merab Dvalishvili rematch at UFC 316, says 'The Machine' felt stronger"

Sean O'Malley reflected on his state of mind heading into the Merab Dvalishvili rematch at UFC 316. O'Malley had made several lifestyle changes to focus on his training camp and showed improvements in the fight. However, Dvalishvili was able to make significant progress himself and defeated the former champion in a more convincing fashion.

Analysing the performances in the recent episode of their podcast, O'Malley's coach, Tim Welch, expressed his appreciation for the rapid progression in Dvalishvili's game, stating:

"We prepared the absolute best we could. But at the end of the day, that Merab was already a different Merab than we fought in The Sphere. The guy is a f*ing tank. He's a goddamn machine. Felt stronger..."

O'Malley, in a surprising admission, revealed that he felt nervous heading into the rematch, especially because of his previous experience of dealing with Dvalishvili's wrestling and cardio. He said:

"I definitely felt this, kind of, nervous feeling that I'm not used to, just because how our first fight played out, knowing his cardio is so crazy, knowing that if it hits the ground, [it's going to be difficult for me]. I knew I had worked on the takedown defence so much, I knew I was able to get up. But I also know that the chance that this fight [might play out] the same way [the first fight did]."

He added:

"So I was more nervous for this fight than I've ever been. You feel vulnerable in the cage, that, 'Alright, if this MF gabs a hold of me, there's a chance that I can't get away from this little f*r.'"

Check out Sean O'Malley's comments below (Courtesy: @ChampRDS):

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Sean O'Malley shares his thoughts on returning to competition

The UFC 316 defeat marked the second consecutive defeat for Sean O'Malley, and observers have started speculating about the next moves and the timeline of return for the former bantamweight champion. In the aforementioned podcast episode, O'Malley shared his thoughts on the situation, stating:

"It's nice to not think about a fight right now, because I do want to chill for a few weeks, and it's way better to not have, like, 'Okay, this is who [I want to fight].' Even if the UFC says, 'Hey, I think we know what we're going to do,' I don't even want to know right now. Just let me chill for a while."

Check out Sean O'Malley's comments below (18:50):