Merab Dvalishvili seeking revenge at UFC 306
Sure, Sean O’Malley is the champion. But it’s actually Merab Dvalishvili that has the better resume going into UFC 306. John Dodson, Jose Aldo, Petr Yan and Henry Cejudo were all defeated by the Georgian contender. But the stakes have never been higher for Dvalishvili.
Merab Dvalishvili: Never resting
Merab Dvalishvili never rests. While fighting, training, or resting, Merab Dvalishvili is always on the go. Fight and fight again, he’s finally made it to the top with his teammate out of the division. For some time, Dvalishvili was the contender at the behest of Aljamain Sterling. As long as his the Serra Jiu-Jitsu teammates were in the same division, Dvalishvili would never fight for the title.
That was true until O’Malley showed up. Round two saw O’Malley flatten Sterling and take the title back home with him. Sterling would make the move to 145 and paved way for the arrival of Dvalishvili.
But Dvalishvili did not want to wait. He fought Henry Cejudo after his title shot-clinching win over Petr Yan. That was off of a win over Jose Aldo who was on the cusp of a title shot. So confident in his abilities, he welcomed Henry Cejudo as a challenge to his skills.
Not supposed to out wrestle an Olympic gold medalist in wrestling, Except that he did. Dvalishvili scored five official takedowns and over four minutes of control time. He was then undeniable.
Avenging Aljamain Sterling
Aljamain Sterling and Merab Dvalishvili are close. Both are training partners and very good friends. Losing his title to O’Malley may have been destiny. But the avenging of Sterling by Merab Dvalishvili could also be encompassed in the same force of destiny.
The nature of Sterling and Dvalishvili’s relationship will feed into that desire for destiny that Dvalishvili has. Going after O’Malley has been something on his radar since the matchup between then-champion Sterling and O’Malley was being set up. Dvalishvili, with his troll-like nature, was randomly handed O’Malley’s jacket and he put it on and acted out. This caused backlash.
Now that O’Malley has beat Sterling and is booked for that UFC 306 fight with Dvalishvili, we will have this fight finally come to fruition.
The stage is set
At the Sphere in Las Vegas, UFC 306 will feature Dvalishvili’s mission to the UFC’s bantamweight title. This will be the biggest and most spectacular event to date from the UFC. The spectacle will be at the highest levels ever seen in the sport.
Merab Dvalishvili is seen as the B-side of that spectacle, but an integral part of it nonetheless. But he’s not here to fight for a spectacle. He will gladly fight Sean O’Malley in the APEX. He just wants to fight.
Dvalishvili will then face off with the rest of the division. Umar Nurmagomedov, Deiveson Figueiredo, Alexandre Pantoja even, those are the demons on Dvalishvili’s heels should he win at UFC 306. But first, he needs to take the spotlight at the Suga Show. A win is required to get the belt back to his gym.
