Merab Dvalishvili is ready and waiting for his shot at UFC gold.
Starting in 2018, Dvalishvili has put together a staggering 10 fight win streak in the men’s 135lbs division. During this time he’s ground out decision wins over the likes of Petr Yan, Jose Aldo and Henry Cejudo. Now ranked No.1 at bantamweight, the Georgian is ready to challenge for the title and take on reigning superstar, Sean O’Malley.
Despite having 10 consecutive wins to his name, Dvalishvili’s path to the belt has not been so straight forward. Between March 2021 to August 2023, Merab’s teammate and training partner Aljamain Sterling was the champion of the division. With the pair refusing to fight eachother, ‘The Machine’ had to wait for his shot at the undisputed championship.
Fortunately, Dvalishivili would not have to wait too long for this chance. When Sean O’Malley knocked out Sterling to become champion in August of last year, opportunity presented itself for the Georgian. With O’Malley succesfully defending his belt against Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera at UFC 299 this past weekend, Merab being next in line is now undeniable.
Merab Dvalishvili Predicts KO Over Sean O’Malley
Being a prolific wrestler has not detracted from Dvalishivili’s confidence in his hands. Speaking with The Schmo, he told fans to not be surprised if he knocks out the striking phenomenon that is O’Malley.
“His last fight was good against Chito, but now he has to challenge himself and fight me.”
“I’m just gonna fight. I’m just gonna do my best and of course, I’m gonna always focus on winning. I’m ready for everything. I’m getting better everywhere, even striking, grappling, jiu-jitsu. I put a lot of hard work [in] and we will see. Don’t be surprised, I may knock him out because he is very confident and I have some skills. I’m getting better and I’m training and I can knock out O’Malley, I believe so.”
Credit can be giving to Merab’s activity. Throughout his entire UFC run, the Georgian has stayed active instead the Octagon and continued to win bout after bout. Now the O’Malley/Vera rematch is finally out of the way, he is ready to challenge every facet of ‘Sugar’s game.
“He’s a dangerous opponent for me. As a fighter, I have so much respect to him, but we all have to find out this. This is MMA.”
“We all see him asking to fight like last Saturday, all strike fights, he did very good. He did very good against grapplers before. Let’s see how he’s gonna do with me, but I’m the next guy.”
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
