The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s (UFC) bantamweight division has the next big contender in Merab Dvalishvili who is eyeing up a title fight against the current champion Sean O’Malley. His rise to the top was no easy feat and his dominance in both wrestling and striking aspects could see himself have the edge when the two come face-to-face.
Merab, currently the number one contender, is coming on the back of a win by decision over the former bantamweight and flyweight champion, Henry Cejudo via decision in UFC 298. His victory against the Olympic Gold medallist also made it his tenth consecutive victory to set the new record for UFC’s longest win streak in the bantamweight division.
While the champion and the number one contender have acknowledged that the two would meet in the octagon for the next fight, it remains unclear when the bout will take place. But Merab has set his sights on the gold and does not intend on letting up at the final hurdle.
Stay updated with the latest from IPL 2024, including top contenders for the IPL 2024 Orange Cap and IPL 2024 Purple Cap. Explore the complete IPL 2024 Schedule, IPL 2024 Points Table and players with the Most Sixes, Most Fours and Most Fifties in IPL 2024
It has not been an easy journey for the fighter from Georgia. At just 21 years old he moved to the United States to make a career in MMA. He was supported by two legendary names in the mixed martial arts community, former UFC Welterweight Champion, Matt Sera and Ray Longo, one of the best coaches in the industry.
Merab credited the pair’s support which thus enabled him to be the man that he is in the UFC.
“It was hard, moving to a different country, a big country like America especially. I didn’t have any friends. I didn’t know anybody at the time, and I had to start everything from zero. It was very hard. It was hard to find the gym. But of course, like, Matt Sera and Ray Longo helped me to, like, just training, training, you know, I find this team, and everybody was nice, and I was getting good work, good training in the gym. And because of this training, I was able to fight. And now I am UFC,” said Merab in a media interaction with Sony Sports.
Coming through the ranks, the Georgian has gone up against some of the biggest names in the division and came out with wins. He beat the Hall of Famer, Jose Aldo, the former champion Petr Yan and Henry Cejudo, which was mentioned earlier and Merab looks back at these big wins with pride.
“This is a dream come true, man, fighting these legends like Henry Cejudo, Jose Aldo, Petr Yan. This is big fights and winning these is big for me, for my country and for my team. Everything is possible, man. I’m working hard and hard work pays off. I’m just grateful to be where I am now and then continuing my journey,” Merab responded to a question on fighting the legendary names in the division.
Now he has his eyes set on the champion and his belt. The law of averages might dictate that Merab might not be favoured but the winning streak does not faze the Georgian and remains focused on competing and is confident that he has the skills to beat the current Champion.
“I have a ten-fight win streak, but I’m not focused on winning streak. You know, I’m just focused on my next fight and winning. It’s not extra pressure. I’m fighting Sean O’Malley and I have to do my best to beat that guy. And I believe I can beat him. Yeah, he’s a good striker, good champion, but I can beat him,” Merab concluded.
A win for Merab would mean that he becomes the second Georgian to be a UFC Champion following the footsteps of his compatriot Ilia Topuria who beat Alexander Volkanovski to become the UFC Featherweight Champion and the country of Georgia would have two more big sports stars putting the nation on the map.
Sony Sports Network is the official broadcaster for UFC in India. Watch UFC every weekend LIVE only on Sony Sports Ten 2 SD & HD, Sony Sports Ten 3 SD & HD (Hindi), Sony Sports Ten 4 SD & HD (Tamil & Telugu).
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
