Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Merab Dvalishvili Gets Finally Gets Some Love From Former UFC Bantamweight Champ!

Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Merab Dvalishvili has had an impressive run in the UFC bantamweight division so far, establishing himself as the top fighter in the 135 division. His MMA career so far includes some struggles, a remarkable turnaround, and consistent dominance that has led him to becoming the champion of the bantamweight division.

Merab made his UFC debut in December of 2017 against Frankie Saenz at UFC Fight Night, but lost via split decision. Thereafter, his second fight in April of 2018 against Ricky Simon at UFC Fight Night resulted in another loss, dropping him to 0-2 in his UFC career. At that point, his future in the UFC looked uncertain, with some wondering if he’d be cut.

However, after that loss, Dvalishvili has gone on an unbelievable winning streak and has not been defeated in his last 12 fights. Merab is not the kind of fighter who specializes in knocking his competition out, but he rather beats his opponents with precision and sound decision. He’s one of the best technical fighters we’ve ever seen.

And even though there are many who question his style of winning the fights, we say when you win 12 straight, ugly wins or not, a win is a win. In his previous fight against Umar Nurmagomedov, nobody believed that Dvalishvili could pull of an upset. However, he’s remained and undisputed champion in the UFC so far.

Also Read: ‘For Me, This Is a No. 1 Contender Fight’ – Lerone Murphy Stays Loyal to the Cause Despite Not Being in the Title Shot Conversations

Sean O’Malley Praised Merab Dvalishvili

UFC has once again setup Merab Dvalishvili to go up against Sean O’Malley at UFC 316, which will be held on June, 2025. While O’Malley wants to take his title back from the Georgian who snatched the belt away at UFC 306, he recently praised Dvalishvili. O’Malley said,

“I’ll forever be grateful for Merab in that sense that he beat me, made me become a better… not just fighter, better person, better human… Losing is a weird thing , where there’s struggle there’s opportunity for growth.”

The last time the two fought in the octagon, we saw Dvalishvili completely dominate O’Malley and it wasn’t even a close fight at all. This time, O’Malley claims that he’s is a much better head space, more matured, and is “70%,” better of a fighter than he was when he last faced the current bantamweight champ at UFC 306. When UFC 316 comes, we’ll see if O’Malley has made improvements or if the Georgian will still be too much for his to defeat.

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Merab Dvalishvili

Sean O’Malley

UFC

Eric Divakaran

nba

nfl

mma

I cover the National Football League and things cannot get better than that. I always dreamed to play football or basketball professionally since I’m built like a Running Back. But now that I can’t, since I’m technically in the “Unc” age, I thought why not pick a career in sports industry? So here I am, doing what I love, and hoping that the Commanders win the Super Bowl. I give love to players when it’s due, but can be critical about their performances at the same time. Enough about me, now let my articles do all the talking.