Merab Dvalishvili outworks Jose Aldo, secures eighth-straight win at UFC 278
Merab Dvalishvili shines
The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to us tonight, August 20, 2022, for UFC 278, going down live on pay-per-view from the Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Headlining the event is a title clash rematch between UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman (20-1) and no. 2 ranked Leon Edwards (19-3).
Co-headlining the card is former UFC & Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold (16-5), who returns to the octagon for the first time in over three years tonight to face former title challenger, no. 6 ranked Paulo Costa (13-2).
Our feature fight of the evening came in the bantamweight division between former multi-time WEC & UFC featherweight champion, no. 3 ranked Jose Aldo (31-7), who faced no. 6 ranked Merab Dvalishvili (14-4) in a supposed no. 1 contender fight tonight.
Aldo came into the bout riding a three-fight win streak, all three wins of which saw him defeat top ten talents, while Dvalishvili had won his last seven-straight since controversially losing both his first, and second UFC fights.
Continue reading to see how this 135 lb encounter went down:
Official Result: Merab Dvalishvili def. Jose Aldo via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Dvalishvili fails every takedown attempt throughout the first round, and it takes each man a few minutes to really get going. Aldo spins Dvalishvili around with the first leg kick he lands, and he also lands a couple nice punches and knees toward the end of the first.
The majority of the second is spent with Dvalishvili pressing Aldo into the fence in search of takedowns.
But, throughout the first ten minutes, he’s 0-7 in attempts.
Aldo is looking good in the striking department but he needs more offense; he’s throwing one punch at a time, combinations would really do him well right now. Dvalishvili continues to out-work the Brazilian legend throughout the third round and overall just exhausts him with his relentless pressure and takedown attempts.
Though Dvalishvili went 0-15 in those takedown attempts, his first UFC fight he was unable to secure a takedown in, he did maul Aldo tonight in a way no one has before.
Merab Dvalishvili is now on an eight-fight win streak in perhaps the UFC’s most stacked division, and he defeats his second multi-time world champion opponent (Marlon Moraes) in a row tonight at UFC 278.
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