The headliner event of UFC 306 saw a rather strange incident. It’s the fact that Herb Dean had to intervene as the fight started since Merab Dvalishvili was hurling banters at Sean O’Malley’s corner. The veteran coach stepped in to offer a stern warning to the Georgian fighter to just fight and leave all of the other stuff to him. ‘The Machine’ folded his hands and asked for forgiveness from Herb Dean before decimating O’Malley to clinch the bantamweight belt. After the hubbub, the MMA community wondered why was Dana White not intervening but it appears that the UFC CEO had a very good reason behind it.

UFC 306 was a once-in͏-a-li͏fe͏time event that ͏thrilled both fans and fighters, offering ͏com͏bat sports ͏enthu͏siasts a truly unique experience.͏͏ Regardless, the inside Octagon banter between the two opposing parties was a bit out of the line that even the UFC CEO couldn’t ignore and expressed his disappointment. What is Dana White’s opinion? Let us find out.

Dana White’s response to the antics between Sean O’Malley and Merab Dvalishvili

Sean O’Malley‘s head coach, Tim Welsh has always been judgemental when it came to ‘Suga’s opponents but this time he crossed the line when he outright disrespected Merab Dvalishvili. ‘The Machine’ in one of his conversations stated that as a coach, Welsh should not act like that. Dvalishvili didn’t forget about the banter as he threw some stern words in the direction of Welsch, which forced Herb Dean to intervene and say, “Do not talk to him. That’s my job. You do this again, it will be me.”

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Dana White never uttered a single word at that time but when a reporter asked him about the mishappenings inside the Octagon, the UFC CEO emphasized that both of the corners were at fault for this incident, “What happened was Merab and O’Malley’s corner were screaming at each other from the very beginning of the fight. They were yelling back and forth, and then Herb Dean stepped in and told them to knock it off,” said White.

He further added, “And yeah, the kissing, the backing up, and standing up and walking away before the bell—I had no idea. Merab does some stuff. It was weird but not shocking.” Well, that’s not all as another reporter asked the UFC CEO about Sean O’Malley’s performance, to which Dana White sadly emphasized that O’Malley didn’t perform up to the mark.

“He didn’t look sharp, he didn’t look crisp. He hurt him with that body shot; he knew he hurt him with that body shot. He kept going and trying to finish, but yeah, I don’t agree. I mean, I looked at the punch,” said Dana White.

Sean O’Malley who seemed to have accepted his fate clapped during the decision, and later shared his take on the whole.

O’Malley releases statement after his decision loss

Sean O’Malley predicted that he would finish Merab Dvalishvili in the very first round by way of a knockout but ‘The Machine’s relentless coercion as well as his psychological prowess helped him get past the sniping striker. The Georgian fighter dominated O’Malley in all of the five rounds. The final verdict was Dvalishvili’s victory as the judges scored the card as 49-46, 48-47, and 48-47 in favor of Merab Dvalishvili.

‘Suga’ was very upset after his defeat as he could be seen holding back his tears as he left the Octagon. After the loss, Sean O’Malley took to his X handle to add a statement for his fans. He wrote, “Over promised, under delivered. Sorry. Love you guys.” It must be noted that Sean O’Malley did land a few heavy body shots at Merab Dvalishvili, but at the end of the fifth round, when it was already too late for him to turn things around.

What’s next for Sean O’Malley now? The fighter might want to take some time off from the Octagon to understand where he left off. What makes it more interesting is that the bantamweight division is filled with talented wrestlers. Hence, O’Malley will most definitely have to find his way up again and the sniper has to work on his ground game.

What’s your take on their fight? State your thoughts in the comments below.