Sean O’Malley defended his bantamweight title against Merab Dvalishvili – and the bout was paused after just seconds

Sean O’Malley’s fight was paused after just 10 seconds before the champion went on to lose his title at UFC 306.

O’Malley was defending his bantamweight world title against Merab Dvalishvili as the UFC took its show to The Sphere in Las Vegas on Saturday night. But the bout was paused just seconds into the first round when the challenger complained to referee Herb Dean.

He appeared to be gesticulating towards O’Malley’s corner and Dean had words with the challenger. The official clarified why he had stopped the fight at the end of the round when he warned O’Malley’s trainer he had been “coaching excessively”.

Dvalishvili went on to edge the opening two rounds as his takedown game had O’Malley under pressure. The challenger was then warned for KISSING his rival on his back towards the end of the second session as he appeared to mock the champion.

O’Malley had boasted of being the biggest star in the UFC but Dvalishvili continued to dominate the main event in Sin City, out-striking the champion through the first three rounds. The crowd began to boo during the fourth round when Dvalishvili again took O’Malley to the canvas.

The Georgian went into the final round knowing he had simply to avoid a knockout to win and after a cautious start, he took O’Malley down for the fifth time in the fight to essentially secure his victory. The champion did attempt to secure the stoppage but failed to make a dent in Dvalishvili who was announced as the winner after five rounds, albeit by smaller margins than anticipated.

Two judges gave the challenger the nod by a score of 48-47 while the third scored the fight slightly wider at 49-46. “Dana White changed my life, he found me on Looking For A Fight and he brought me to UFC and look at me now, I’m UFC champion. I’m living the dream; I’m just a normal guy.”

Earlier in the evening, Valentina Shevchenko was crowned the flyweight champion again after dominating her trilogy fight with Alexa Grasso. Shevchenko had lost her title to her rival last year before their rematch was scored a draw, but the Russian won every round of the third instalment to regain her crown.