Israel Adesanya didn’t foresee Merab Dvalishvili’s dominance over Sean O’Malley at UFC 316.

Dvalishvili submitted O’Malley with a choke in round three of their pay-per-view main event at the Prudential Center on June 7.

The result in Newark marked the bantamweight champion’s second win over ‘Suga’ in the space of eight months, with ‘The Machine’ having previously unseated O’Malley from the throne at UFC 306 last September.

While Dvalishvili needed the three judges first time around, he defied the expectations of some by finishing things inside the distance in the rematch after establishing his superiority early.

Adesanya, for one, was not expecting such an outcome.

Israel Adesanya shouts ‘No!’ as Merab Dvalishvili submits Sean O’Malley

A day on from Dvalishvili’s second successful title defense, Adesanya posted his live reactions to the UFC 316 PPV on YouTube.

Having spent time training and hanging out with O’Malley during the lead-up to his rematch with the Georgian champ, ‘The Last Stylebender’ was confident in the American’s chances.

With that in mind, the former two-time middleweight kingpin was unsurprisingly shocked to see Dvalishvili’s dominance over ‘Suga’ en route to the submission stoppage before the championship rounds.

“I like the stance. How did Merab straight away just put him behind the line? Sean has to get back on the offensive,” Adesanya said while watching the early stages of the bout.

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“Let’s go Sean…I thought the knee was going to land…good job, Sean.

“He’s turning in,” Adesanya said as Dvalishvili attacked O’Malley’s neck. “F—k off, no! F—k, he’s good. You’ve gotta give it up, man. He’s just good, bro, so good.

“Merab is that guy. You just can’t f—king fault him. Sean did better, he did well…but Merab, just f—king like a steam engine, just keeps coming.”

Israel Adesanya predicted a second-round knockout for Sean O’Malley at UFC 316

More than just predicting a return to the bantamweight mountaintop, Adesanya was backing O’Malley to knock Dvalishvili out.

In his prediction video during UFC 316 fight week, ‘The Last Stylebender’ spoke of what he’d seen from a “dialed in” O’Malley behind the scenes and predicted that he’d close the show in round two at UFC 316.

“Me and Sean, we’re cool. He reminds me of myself,” Adesanya said. “From what he’s doing, he’s not even smoking…I see the way he’s taking this really seriously.

“He’s done the work. He’s lived the stoic, the boring life for this fight…and it’s showing when you hang out with him, you can see it.

“It’s a hard fight, but I’m gonna go Sean O’Malley. Because I believe, I believe, I believe, man,” Adesanya continued. “Just seeing the work he’s done this camp, not just in the gym, the stuff outside the gym. … Sean is dialed in and Sean can catch him.

“It’s gonna be the return to ‘The Suga Show’. Knockout, round two.”

Like Adesanya, O’Malley now finds himself on the first losing skid of his career. Both men will look to return to winning ways when they next make the walk to the Octagon.

Source: Bloody Elbow.