- Merab Dvalishvili defended bantamweight title in fine style over Sean O’Malley
- He choked out challenger before jumping cage to speak to Donald Trump
- Kayla Harrison beat Julianna Pena in the co-main event via submission
Merab Dvalishvili defended his title in sensational fashion at UFC 316 before jumping over the octagon to celebrate with Donald Trump.
The Georgian, who gave O’Malley a rematch having beaten him on the scorecards last year, improved on that performance with a merciless finish.
A combination of a neck crank and choke from the north-south position crushed down on ‘Suga Sean’ forcing him to tap out in the third round.
Having been booed by almost all of the Prudential Center crowd, who were particularly hostile on his walk-out and even grabbed him, the champion soon won them around.
Secret service on site will have been nervous at the sight of the crazed fighter jumping the cage towards Trump.
But they shared a few words and a handshake before posing for pictures. It was a routine copied by a few other fighters on the night and the president, who has used the UFC to help cultivate his image, was only happy to oblige.
Merab Dvalishvili beat Sean O’Malley in the main event of UFC 316 on Saturday night
He jumped the cage for a chat with Donald Trump (left) and Dana White (right)
Trump commiserated O’Malley after the challenger’s third-round submission defeat
He had walked out with Dana White to his usual rapturous reception, notably not flanked by Elon Musk as he had previously been before – now the pair are in a public spat and the relationship has turned sour.
Trump watched on as Dvalishvili started as he meant to continue, suffocating O’Malley with his pressure forwards.
The challenger did well to keep him largely at bay over the first five minutes and also stymied takedowns in an even second round, albeit with Dvalishvili doing enough to win it.
Those takedown attempts kept coming in the third and by this point, the famed cardio of the champion was coming into its own.
He picked up O’Malley like a doll and with a grin on his face, dumped him back down to earth.
Dvalishvili was working away with elbows on the floor and then slipped an arm under O’Malley’s neck, securing a nasty, twisting kind of choke while readjusting the angle to press his chest down on the face.
That was all she wrote and Dvalishvili may now hopefully be adding some finishing finesse to what was a deadly but not always entertaining style.
Afterwards he said: ‘I’m on top of the world, I’m a world champion. I came from nothing.
O’Malley was unceremoniously dumped to the mat when Dvalishvili picked him up
The Georgian locked in a tight choke and forced his opponent to tap before he went unconscious
Kayla Harrison (left) won the co-main event to take the bantamweight title
‘It doesn’t matter what you have as long as you know where you go and you have a goal. Please, believe in your dreams. Everything is possible.
‘He was well prepared. I knew he was going to make changes. Every time I lost, I made a big change and I learned from it. But I’m getting better and better. Now it’s my time.’
He also went on to confirm a fight with Corey Sandhagen will be next.
In the co-main event, Kayla Harrison dominated Julianna Pena, forcing a tap with eight seconds on the clock in the second round.
It was a kimura submission and would have almost certainly broken the former champion’s arm, had she not sensibly quit.
Harrison then invited Amanda Nunes into the octagon to face off, with the Lioness coming out of retirement for a megafight anticipated to be next year.
