Sean O'Malley comes clean on emotional and mental state after Merab Dvalishvili rematch loss at UFC 316: "Happiness is a skill"
Sean O'Malley recently issued a statement following his loss to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 316. Despite his initial disappointment, O'Malley remains in good spirits as he feels there is no point in hanging onto the past.
After successful recovery from a hip injury, O'Malley made his octagon return in the main event of UFC 316 last weekend in order to reclaim his bantamweight title from Dvalishvili in a rematch. Their first encounter at Noche UFC 306 last year saw the Georgian fighter dethrone O'Malley via a dominant unanimous decision.
O'Malley appeared confident in the starting rounds on Saturday. However, as the fight progressed, Dvalishvili's constant pressure proved too much for the American, who was submitted in the third round via an anaconda choke.
In a recent video on his YouTube channel, O'Malley discussed his first submission loss in professional MMA. 'Suga' acknowledged that he was upset at first but emphasized on being positive despite the outcome:
''Happiness is a skill. So for me to be able to go through something like that and then the next Sunday rolls around, Monday rolls around, I don't feel sad at all – I still feel really happy. I feel a little disappointed in the outcome. I feel a little frustrated, but there's no sadness inside of me. I'm holding my 14-day-old.''
O'Malley added:
''I'll close my eyes and I'll picture things like when I started locking up the guillotine, I could've done something. I could've done this. I could've done that. But I'm like, ah, man – there's nothing I can do about it now... I still feel very good.''
Check out Sean O'Malley's comments below (via Championship Rounds' X post):
Sean O'Malley names Merab Dvalishvili ''greatest bantamweight of all time''
Sean O'Malley says Merab Dvalishvili is the greatest ever at bantamweight.
In the aforementioned YouTube video, O'Malley said that he had a good camp heading into UFC 316 but his opponent was too strong:
''I feel like I got so much better this fight. I feel like I was able to show that that camp. But just being on bottom – and I've trained with the best, we train with such good guys ... It's so weird. He just felt so f*cking compact and strong in there. I feel like that was too much. ... [He's the] greatest of all time – greatest bantamweight of all time."
Check out Sean O'Malley's comments below (46:46):