Merab Dvalishvili brought the Suga Show to a screeching halt, defeating Sean O'Malley by unanimous decision to capture the bantamweight championship Saturday night in the main event of Noche UFC at The Sphere in Las Vegas.
The judges scored the bout 49-46, 48-47 and 48-47 for Dvalishvili (18-4), who has won 11 in a row and snapped O'Malley's seven-fight unbeaten streak.
O'Malley (18-2, 1 NC) was making the second defense of his title, which he won by knocking out Aljamain Sterling. He earned a decision win over Marlon Vera last time out in his first title defense.
O'Malley's speed advantage on the feet was evident in the opening round, but Dvalishvili's wrestling proved to be too much for the champion. He shot for his first takedown and got it about three minutes into the fight. O'Malley quickly got back to his feet, but he ate a few shots as the Dvalishvili wrestled him against the cage. The challenger kept the pressure on, scoring a second takedown and landing short punches and knees against the cage.
Dvalishvili's third takedown came two minutes into Round 2, when he ducked a right hand from O'Malley and took him to the ground. The challenger did a better job controlling O'Malley and keeping him on the ground while roughing him up with punches and hard knees. O'Malley's best punch came after Dvalishvili inexplicably let go of a guillotine choke and walked away with seconds left in the round, allowing the champion to land a hard right from behind.
Dvalishvili continued to pressure O'Malley in Round 3, again wrestling him against the cage and keeping busy with short punches and knees. O'Malley struggled to establish a rhythm on the feet, as Dvalishvili kept busy with leg kicks and threatened level changes, but he landed
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