Sean O’Malley tried to beat Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306 last fall in Las Vegas, in what marked “Suga’s” second title defense at 135 pounds.
Instead, he got smoked like a Newport 100.
After securing the sequel that “nobody wants to see,” O’Malley dumped social media, repaired his bum hip, quit marijuana, and found a venue that doesn’t require blinding lights to compete. Unfortunately, UFC color commentator Joe Rogan does not expect a different outcome when “Suga” rematches “The Machine” at UFC 316 on June 7 in Newark.
“The Merab rematch with ‘Suga’ Sean, that’s an interesting fight,” Rogan said on his official podcast. “Very interesting fight. I do not know how Suga Sean keeps that guy off of him, but I do like what he’s been doing. Got off social media, stopped smoking weed, just dialed the f*ck in. Got his hip fixed, which was a big problem. There’s a lot of these fighters that take these fights because it’s a lot of money and it’s a big event and they don’t want to cancel and they’ve got a significant injury.”
O’Malley insists he wasn’t supposed to win, regardless of the injury.
“Sean could not wrestle,” Rogan continued. “Imagine not being able to wrestle in camp and then you’ve got to go face Merab. He’s a f*cking animal. That guy is superhuman. There’s no one like him. The cardio that guy has is off the charts. It’s just off the charts, I’ve never seen anything like it. He doesn’t get tired and he’s full gas, no brakes the entire fight. It’s just smothering, overwhelming people. Even Nurmagomedov, who’s also an animal, he couldn’t keep him off of him. This motherf*cker’s crazy.”
Crazy enough to stand-and-bang with O’Malley.
“When [Daniel Cormier] went to visit him on Sunday, the day after the fight, he’s out running,” Rogan said. “‘DC’ went to his house to congratulate him… and he’s like, ‘This motherf*cker’s out running.’ He’d just won the world title, and the next day he’s running. He’s an animal. He’s a f*cking animal.”
Not surprisingly, Dvalishvili remains a sizable betting favorite ahead of UFC 316.
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
