When Sean O’Malley surrendered his UFC bantamweight title to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306, speculation immediately swirled around the champion’s health. News soon broke that O’Malley had suffered a torn labrum in his hip roughly ten weeks before the fight, an injury severe enough to require surgery and a lengthy layoff. The question for fans and pundits alike: Was the injury the decisive factor in O’Malley’s defeat, or did Dvalishvili’s relentless pressure and wrestling simply expose the limits of O’Malley’s game?

No Excuses: O’Malley’s Own Take

Despite the severity of his injury, O’Malley has been adamant that the torn labrum was not the reason for his loss. “Best weight cut, felt good, no excuses,” O’Malley said after UFC 306. “Everyone keeps asking me, ‘Something seemed off.’ No excuses”. He reiterated this stance in multiple interviews, refusing to blame his hip for being out-struck 214 to 49 and taken down six times by Dvalishvili.

O’Malley’s head coach, Tim Welch, echoed this sentiment but did admit that the injury severely limited their ability to train wrestling and grappling in camp. “We really couldn’t spend a lot of time on the mat like we have done in previous years… Just really doing a full wrestling practice or a full jiu-jitsu practice, we’ve been working around the injury as best we can”. Cortisone shots were needed just to get O’Malley to the fight, and grappling sessions were reduced to short bursts, a far cry from the full-scale preparations needed for a wrestler of Dvalishvili’s caliber.

While O’Malley refuses to use the injury as an excuse, the facts of his training camp and fight performance suggest it was a significant factor. Dvalishvili’s game plan has always revolved around suffocating pressure, relentless takedowns, and high-volume striking. Against a fully healthy O’Malley, those are still daunting obstacles. But with a compromised hip, O’Malley’s ability to sprawl, scramble, and explode out of grappling exchanges was clearly diminished.

O’Malley himself admitted that the torn labrum “hindered his grappling ability,” and his coach confirmed that real wrestling and jiu-jitsu practices were nearly impossible for months leading up to the fight. The result was a champion forced to fight a defensive, reactive bout, unable to implement the dynamic movement and takedown defense that had previously defined his style.

Can a Healthy O’Malley Flip the Script at UFC 316?

It’s a fascinating test of what a fully healthy “Suga” can do against the relentless Merab Dvalishvili. While the narrative after their first fight at UFC 306 focused on Dvalishvili’s dominance, a closer look at the scorecards and the action inside the Octagon reveals a far more competitive battle than many remember.

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On two of the three judges’ scorecards, O’Malley actually won two out of the first three rounds. His sharp striking, lateral movement, and ability to create angles gave Dvalishvili problems early. O’Malley’s jab and counterpunching landed clean, and his footwork kept him off the fence for stretches, forcing Dvalishvili to work for every takedown. Even when taken down, O’Malley was often able to scramble back to his feet or minimize damage, showing flashes of the championship-level composure that made him the division’s king.

Perhaps the most telling moment came in the fifth round. With Dvalishvili pushing the pace, O’Malley landed a perfectly timed teep kick to the body that visibly hurt the Georgian. For a brief moment, Dvalishvili’s relentless march slowed, and O’Malley pressed forward, sensing an opportunity. Unfortunately for O’Malley, time was not on his side, he simply ran out of clock before he could capitalize on the opening.

These moments are crucial as we look ahead to UFC 316. If O’Malley’s hip is fully healed and his training camp has truly addressed the wrestling and cardio demands of facing Dvalishvili, there’s every reason to believe he can flip the script.

Was the torn labrum the reason Sean O’Malley lost his title? The truth lies somewhere in the middle. O’Malley’s refusal to make excuses is admirable, but the limitations on his training and grappling were real and significant. Against a grinder like Dvalishvili, those deficits are magnified.

At UFC 316, a healthy O’Malley has the chance to answer all doubts. If he can implement his striking, defend takedowns, and fight with the freedom that injury denied him, he could very well reclaim his throne. But if Dvalishvili’s pressure once again smothers the “Suga Show,” the narrative will shift from injury to inadequacy, and the bantamweight division will have a new undisputed king.