Merab Dvalishvili Just Shut Down The Suga Show And Avenged Aljamain Sterling's Loss

UFC Noche has come to an end - and Merab Dvalishvili is standing tall as the NEW UFC Bantamweight Champion!

Like the co-main event, it wasn't the most exciting fight - but Merab did what he needed to do to secure the victory and avenge Ajlamain Sterling's loss. Nothing he did was necessarily surprising, either; he followed a wrestling-heavy gameplan and pressured consistently. Sean O'Malley just couldn't shut it down, and never found the shot he needed to hurt Dvalishvili.

It almost looked like Merab was hurt with a body shot late in the fifth round, which got the whole crowd on their feet - but O'Malley oddly didn't have the urgency of a man about to lose his championship. He was a bit "off" all night, it seemed, too. I don't know if Suga was just afraid of the takedown threat which made him so trepidatious, but he just never let his hands go once - and his body language was never great.

There were some weird ass moments in this fight, too - Merab asked Herb Dean to stop the fight almost immediately because O'Malley's corner was yelling apparently?

There was that, a strange glove-grab-reset in the second, AND this moment where Merab was kissing O'Malley's back and then thought the round was over and turned his back on Sean....

Sean O'Malley didn't stick around for a post-fight interview, but I'll be very interested to hear what he says about this loss. I wouldn't be surprised if he claims he was hurt or sick coming into the fight, because I saw a few rumors of that sort this week (with no real credence), but again - he definitely seemed "off" tonight. 

Congrats to Merab tho. Great win and underdog story for the Georgian.