Daniel Cormier believes Merab Dvalishvili’s refusal to fight Aljamain Sterling could be about more than just friendship

Daniel Cormier believes Merab Dvalishvili’s refusal to fight Aljamain Sterling could be about more than just friendship.

In the opinion of the 44 year old commentator, ‘The Machine’ may have other reasons to avoid a fight with fellow teammate Aljamain Sterling.

Merab Dvalishvili (16-4 MMA) last fought and defeated Petr Yan (16-5 MMA) in March of this year by unanimous decision.

Aljamain Sterling (23-4 MMA) just recently lost his title via way of TKO to Sean O’Malley (17-1 MMA) at UFC 292.

It was Dvalishvili who made it clear that he was not willing to fight his good friend and teammate Aljamain Sterling – even if it meant he wouldn’t get a title shot.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Daniel Cormier shared his thoughts on Merab’s unwillingness to fight Sterling:

“Merab is saying, ‘I don’t want to be fighting my friend. I will also tell you this: Part of the reason I didn’t want o fight Cain Velasquez was because I knew what happened in the gym every day. So the question is, how is Merab doing with Aljo to know he doesn’t really want to fight this guy?”

Continuing Cormier said (h/t MMAJunkie):

“The friendship is obviously No. 1. But also, you know in training with that guy how tough it would be to get a victory over him – if possible at all. Generally, the guy that doesn’t want the fight is the guy that is not the champion. In this case, that’s Merab Dvalishvili.”

Merab did take to ‘X’ with the following comment:

“Every UFC win since my 1st in 2018 I called out @SugaSeanMMA and Sean ignored my call outs.I say I don’t want to fight my teammate and brother @funkmasterMMA and the media goes crazy! If there is no immediate rematch I am Number 1 for this Title match.There should be NO question.”

So there you have it,  Dvalishvili is prepared to fight ‘Suga‘ should there not be a rematch with Sterling.

Who would you like to see as O’Malley’s first title defense? Do you agree with Daniel Cormier’s assessment?

Share your thoughts in the comment section PENN Nation!