The Georgia fighter, who is a friend and teammate of Sterling’s, made it clear that he thought the stoppage was an early stoppage, criticizing the actions of the referee handling the title fight.
“Another damn early stoppage! I pray I or my teammates don’t have Mark Goddard in the cage. We are fighters – let us fight to the end!”, Dvalishvili wrote on social media.
The American, who lost to Sterling by split decision three and a half months ago, said he should fight the new division champion next.
“Congratulations to cowardly Sean O’Malley, but how can you say you’re the best in the world when you’re not even the best in our city. Dana White, you can’t give him Cheeto because he sucks and if you give him Merab, he’ll only wrestle. Let’s do it in Phoenix!”, “Triple H Champion” wrote.
After defeating the champion at UFC 292 in Boston, Sean O’Malley said he wants to make a title defense in December against division number six Marlon Vera, who suffered his only professional defeat three years ago, winning the fight by first-round technical knockout.