Merab Dvalishvili defended his bantamweight championship against Sean O’Malley on Saturday in the main event of UFC 316, and made it look easy.

Dvalishvili became champion this past September when he took the title from O’Malley via unanimous decision at UFC 306. He improved on his performance in the rematch, submitting O’Malley in the third round.

The opening round saw Dvalishvili take O’Malley down twice – he had six total takedowns in the first meeting that required all 25 minutes – and maintained top position for nearly half the round. In Round 2, Dvalishvili utilized some improved striking skills, out-landing O’Malley 23 to 19 in significant strikes in the most competitive of the three rounds.

Dvalishvili, the UFC’s all-time takedowns leader, turned up the tempo even more in Round

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