Merab
Dvalishvili, the No. 2-ranked
Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight contender, is
finally receiving the limelight he deserves. Often overlooked
during pivotal discussions regarding the seismic shift in the UFC
bantamweight division, Dvalishvili, the Georgian menace, now has
one foot in the door of title contention, and every fight has been
a step up in competition.
“The Machine” is on a staggering nine-fight win streak with the
ultimate objective of laying hands on divisional gold. Dvalishvili
was contentto assume the supporting role when his longtime training
partner and friend
Aljamain
Sterling reigned supreme over the bantamweight division. Now,
the vanquished champion has given way to a potential future one,
with Sterling moving up to the featherweight division to take on
Calvin
Kattar at
UFC
300.
With this scenario in mind, Dvalishvili has a promising opportunity
to hog the limelight in his next high-profile assignment. The
Georgian is set to take on former two-division champion
Henry
Cejudo on Feb. 17, 2024, at
UFC 298. With the groundwork laid for the meeting of rival
forces, let's take a look at some of Dvalishvili's rivalries carved
in stone with his relentless wrestling-heavy fighting style.
Stots was on an eight-fight win streak when he locked horns with
the freshly minted Ring of Combat bantamweight champion,
Merab
Dvalishvili. The fight took place at the
Ring
of Combat 59 event on June 2, 2017. The actual fight would turn
out to be Dvalishvili’s quickest assignment to date, dispatching
Stots with a spinning backfist in a mere fifteen seconds of the
first round. This is also the 33-year-old’s only first-round finish
in his 20-fight professional career.
Dvalishvili took on Katona, who would go on to become the only
two-time “The Ultimate Fighter” in his fourth fight under the UFC
banner. Katona toted the same qualifications that Stots wielded in
the fight, challenging Dvalishivili at
UFC Fight Night 151 riding on an impressive eight-fight win
streak.
The Georgian sealed his opponent’s fate with a shutout performance
and handed Katona the first loss of his professional career.
Dvalishvili stuck to his patent wrestling-heavy onslaught scoring a
unanimous 30-27 victory on all three scorecards.
Dvalishvili endured a rough first round in a pivotal clash against
Moraes at
UFC 266. The top bout of the UFC 266 undercard proved to be a
nail-biting encounter. Dvalishvili capitalized on a wild exchange
to take Moraes to the ground, but the Brazilian didn’t stay down
long. Once they were back in striking range, Moraes drilled his
opponent with a pair of left hooks, the second one hurting and
wobbling Dvalishvili. A furious assault by Moraes followed, and
while Dvalishvili stumbled around the Octagon, he kept swinging and
even got a takedown with 90 seconds to go.
In the second round, Dvalishvili drew upon his strongest suit and
deployed his wrestling prowess on Moraes, flooring his adversary
with relentless takedowns and landing vicious blows from the top
position. The unanswered strikes from the top position forced
referee
Keith
Peterson to intervene at the 4:25 mark, and Dvalishvili walked
away with the only “Performance of the Night” bonus of his UFC
journey.
This rivalry had bad blood, underscored by vicious intentions on
both fighters’ part considering that the hostility had been brewing
for some time. Dvalishvili’s rivalry with Yan was embedded in
multiple roots and a fusillade of verbal attacks. Above all else,
Dvalishvili craved the chance to prove his mettle against a former
UFC champion. When the opportunity presented itself at
UFC Fight Night 221, he triumphed in style.
Dvalishvili drowned Yan, shooting for two takedowns in the opening
minute of the fight. He didn’t ease off on the pressure for an
instant, mixing in hard punches and punishing kicks to Yan’s lead
leg. It seemed like the Georgian was in overdrive mode, while Yan
felt the weight of the gloves and seemingly bailed out on the
sinking ship as the fight progressed.
The 33-year-old set the record for most takedowns attempted in a
UFC bout with 49 attempts and came out on top with unanimous 50-45
scores.