Merab Dvalishvili News

Fernando Quiles Jr. - January 23, 2025

Merab Dvalishvili has been on a tear, and Ray Longo believes the UFC played a significant role. Dvalishvili is the reigning UFC bantamweight champion. He’s fresh off his first successful title defense against Umar Nurmagomedov in the co-main event of UFC 311. The 135-pound titleholder displayed his elite conditioning and grappling to outlast the challenger after five rounds of action.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - January 22, 2025

Merab Dvalishvili has one top UFC bantamweight contender knocking on his door. Dvalishvili is the reigning 135-pound champion, who is fresh off a successful title defense against Umar Nurmagomedov. Dvalishvili and Nurmagomedov collided in the co-main event of UFC 311. The Georgian champion was able to retain his gold thanks to some elite conditioning and grappling.

Harry Kettle - January 21, 2025

UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili has shared graphic footage of his pre-UFC 311 leg injury. Last weekend, Merab Dvalishvili successfully retained the UFC bantamweight championship. He did so in an immensely entertaining fight against Umar Nurmagomedov, in a contest that many expected Nurmagomedov to win. In the end, though, Dvalishvili did more than enough to get himself over the finish line.

Cole Shelton - January 20, 2025

The UFC was in Inglewood, California for a solid UFC 311 card on Saturday, as the event saw two titles on the line. In the main event, Islam Makhachev took on Renato Moicano on 24 hours’ notice as he looked to defend his lightweight title. The co-main event saw Merab Dvalishvili defending his bantamweight title against Umar Nurmagomedov.

BJ Penn Staff - January 20, 2025

Merab Dvalishvili delivered one of the best performances of his career at UFC 311, defending the bantamweight title with an impressive decision victory over Umar Nurmagomedov. However, he nearly didn’t make it to the Octagon at all. In the wake of UFC 311, Dvalishvili opened up on an injury he suffered before the fight. He sustained a bad cut on his shin in training, and he might not have been cleared to compete at all had he not found a way to fool a representative from the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC).

Fernando Quiles Jr. - January 20, 2025

Henry Cejudo is giving Merab Dvalishvili the ultimate praise following UFC 311. Dvalishvili opened a lot of eyes when his first UFC Bantamweight Championship defense was over. The Georgian champion put his gold at stake against the previously unbeaten Umar Nurmagomedov. While the challenger had a strong start in the fight, it was Dvalishvili who proved to have the superior conditioning and his grappling was on point against tough opposition. Dvalishvili walked out of the Intuit Dome with his 135-pound gold secured.

Chris Taylor - January 18, 2025

The Octagon returned to Inglewood for tonight’s UFC 311 pay-per-view event, and four fighters wound up taking home performance bonuses. The event was headlined by a lightweight title fight featuring Islam Makhachev taking on Renato Moicano. The bout proved to be a short night for reigning lightweight champion Islam Makhachev. After being stung by a good combination in the early moments of the contest, Islam quickly secured a takedown and proceeded to lock in a fight-ending d’arce choke (see that here). With the win, Makhachev now holds the record for most title defenses at lightweight (4), surpassing BJ Penn and Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Chris Taylor - January 18, 2025

Tonight’s UFC 311 pay-per-view event was co-headlined by a men’s bantamweight title fight between Merab Dvalishvili and Umar Nurmagomedov. Nurmagomedov (18-1 MMA) had entered his first career title fight sporting a perfect professional record. The ‘Young Eagle’ had most previously competed this past August, where he scored a unanimous decision victory over perennial contender Cory Sandhagen.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - January 17, 2025

UPDATE: The UFC 311 weigh-ins have ended and during the scale measurements, it was announced that Arman Tsarukyan has been replaced in the main event by Renato Moicano due to injury. The UFC 311 weigh-ins are underway.

Cole Shelton - January 15, 2025

In the co-main event of UFC 311, the bantamweight title is up for grabs as current champion Merab Dvalishvili takes on Umar Nurmagomedov. Heading into the fight, the champ is a +240 underdog while the challenger is a -330 favorite on FanDuel. Ahead of the scrap, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions for the bantamweight title fight at UFC 311. The pros believe Merab Dvalishvili will be able to pull off the upset and hand Nurmagomedov his first career loss at UFC 311.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - January 14, 2025

Aljamain Sterling believes Merab Dvalishvili will silence the doubters once his UFC 311 clash with Umar Nurmagomedov has come to a close. Dvalishvili and Nurmagomedov are set to clash this Saturday night at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, CA. The UFC Bantamweight Championship will be at stake, and Dvalishvili is in search of his first successful title defense. A win for Nurmagomedov would mark his first UFC title victory.

Harry Kettle - January 13, 2025

UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili has issued an injury warning ahead of his co-main event at UFC 311. As we know, Merab Dvalishvili is the king of the bantamweight division. He earned that title through years of hard work, capping it off with a victory over Sean O’Malley at the Sphere that earned him the gold.

Harry Kettle - January 10, 2025

UFC star Ilia Topuira could end up being in the corner of Merab Dvalishvili for his title fight at UFC 311 next weekend. Right now, Ilia Topuria is one of the biggest stars in all of mixed martial arts. He is the UFC featherweight champion, he’s built up a huge name for himself, and last year he knocked out both Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway. If that isn’t impressive, we truly don’t know what is.

Harry Kettle - January 7, 2025

UFC champion Merab Dvalishvili has been tipped to become the greatest bantamweight all of time sooner rather than later. As we know, Merab Dvalishvili is the current king of the bantamweight division. We also know that 135 pounds is one of the most competitive weight classes in all of mixed martial arts, and that’s been the case for a long time now in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. As a result of that, we haven’t really seen too many people dominate the division in comparison to others.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - January 5, 2025

Umar Nurmagomedov’s coach doesn’t understand why Merab Dvalishvili feels his fighter doesn’t deserve his UFC 311 title fight. Nurmagomedov is scheduled to challenge Dvalishvili for the UFC Bantamweight Championship on January 18th. It’ll Nurmagomedov’s first crack at UFC gold. He earned the title opportunity after defeating Cory Sandhagen via unanimous decision back in August 2024.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - January 5, 2025

Sean O’Malley has a preference for who he wants the UFC bantamweight champion to be when he’s ready to return. O’Malley lost the 135-pound gold to Merab Dvalishvili back in September. The “Suga” show was outworked by his opponent, who effectively utilized his grappling to get the better of the now former bantamweight ruler. O’Malley was defeated via unanimous decision inside The Sphere in Las Vegas.

Josh Evanoff - December 30, 2024

UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili wants to be very, very, very active next year. ‘The Machine’ last appeared in the octagon in September, in the main event of Noche UFC. There, Merab Dvalishvili finally got his crack at bantamweight gold, against the hard-hitting Sean O’Malley. Ultimately, the wrestler largely controlled ‘Sugar’, winning the bout by unanimous decision after five rounds of action.

Harry Kettle - December 30, 2024

UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili has made some big comparisons ahead of his next fight at UFC 311 Following his win over Sean O’Malley, Merab Dvalishvili is now the UFC bantamweight champion. His dominant triumph impressed the masses and, of course, welcomed a lot of intrigue from the rest of the bantamweight division.