Merab Dvalishvili News

Fernando Quiles - 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.

Cole Shelton - January 2, 2025

Umar Nurmagomedov believes he will finish Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 311. Nuramgomedov is set to challenge Dvalishvili for the bantamweight title in a highly-anticipated matchup. It’s a fight many fans are looking forward to, and Nurmagomedov enters the bout with plenty of confidence, as he believes he won’t just win, but will finish Dvalshvili.

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.

Cole Shelton - December 18, 2024

Aljamain Sterling is frustrated with how Merab Dvalishvili vs Umar Nurmagomedov was made. Dvalishvili is set to defend his bantamweight title for the first time in the co-main event of UFC 311 against Nurmagomedov. It’s the fight many fans wanted to see, but Sterling doesn’t like how the bout was made on short notice.

Josh Evanoff - December 10, 2024

UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili wants an apology from Umar Nurmagomedov. ‘The Machine’ finally has his first title defense set. Just a few months removed from defeating Sean O’Malley, Merab Dvalishvili will defend the gold against Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311 in January. For his part, ‘Young Eagle’ earned the title opportunity by defeating Cory Sandhagen by unanimous decision in August.

Fernando Quiles - December 10, 2024

One former UFC star is on Merab Dvalishvili’s side when it comes to fan altercations. Dvalishvili was in attendance for UFC 310 in support of Aljamain Sterling. After Sterling dropped a unanimous decision to Movsar Evloev, Dvalishvili got physical with a fan in the crowd. The bantamweight champion has since claimed the fan in question was a plant set up by Umar Nurmagomedov and his team.

Harry Kettle - December 9, 2024

UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili has revealed his side of the story behind a scuffle he had with a fan at UFC 310. Last weekend at UFC 310, Merab Dvalishvili was in the corner of Aljamain Sterling for his fight against Movsar Evloev. While it was a close and competitive affair, Sterling ultimately came up on the wrong end of a decision defeat. However, that wasn’t the end of the story for Merab that evening.

Harry Kettle - December 8, 2024

UFC star Sean O’Malley has taken a shot at former opponents Aljamain Sterling and Merab Dvalishvili following UFC 310. As was the case for most of us last night, Sean O’Malley was watching closely during a really fascinating UFC 310 pay-per-view event. It featured some notable moments for two of his rivals, too, with Aljamain Sterling losing to Movsar Evloev and Merab Dvalishvili getting involved in a fight with a fan in the crowd.

Harry Kettle - December 8, 2024

UFC champion Merab Dvalishvili got into an altercation with a fan following Aljamain Sterling’s loss at UFC 310. If there’s one thing we know to be true about Merab Dvalishvili, it’s that he’s a pretty passionate guy. Whether it be himself or his teammates, he wears his heart on his sleeve. Sometimes, that takes him all the way to a world championship. In other instances, though, that leaves him on the verge of creating a real problem for himself.

Josh Evanoff - December 6, 2024

UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili nearly came to blows with Umar Nurmagomedov earlier today. ‘The Machine’ and ‘Young Eagle’ finally had their long-awaited clash finalized earlier this week. Despite talk of Merab Dvalishvili rematching Petr Yan or Sean O’Malley, he instead signed a deal to face Umar Nurmagomedov. The Russian famously earned a title opportunity with a unanimous decision victory over Cory Sandhagen in August.

Fernando Quiles - December 5, 2024

UFC 311 will be getting two major title fights. Dana White, UFC CEO, recently took to social media to drop some major news on his promotion’s first pay-per-view event of 2025. In the main event of UFC 311, Islam Makhachev will put his lightweight championship at stake against Arman Tsarukyan.

Harry Kettle - November 26, 2024

Sean O’Malley doesn’t believe that Merab Dvalishvili is overly interested in the idea of fighting Umar Nurmagomedov. As we know, Merab Dvalishvili is the rightful UFC bantamweight champion. He defeated Sean O’Malley to claim the belt for the first time and ever since then, fans have been wondering who he’ll defend against first. Some have suggested an O’Malley rematch, whereas others believe Umar Nurmagomedov and Petr Yan are the top two contenders – especially after the latter’s win over Deiveson Figueiredo last weekend.

Harry Kettle - November 25, 2024

UFC star Umar Nurmagomedov has issued a warning to Merab Dvalishvili as talk of a fight between them continues. As we know, Umar Nurmagomedov is seen as the number one contender at bantamweight in the eyes of many. The champion, meanwhile, Merab Dvalishvili, is more interested in taking on Petr Yan. As of this writing, it’s not quite clear as to who is going to get the next crack at the 135 pound belt.

Harry Kettle - November 25, 2024

UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili has challenged Petr Yan to a rematch at UFC 313 in March 2025. Last weekend, Petr Yan made a statement. He defeated Deiveson Figueiredo and in doing so, put himself firmly back in the title picture at bantamweight. Of course, as many people know, he’s fought Merab Dvalishvili before. On that occasion, Dvalishvili was able to totally control Yan with his relentless pace and style, earning a fantastic and dominant victory in the process.

Curtis Calhoun - October 25, 2024

UFC bantamweight contender Umar Nurmagomedov didn’t take long to respond to Merab Dvalishvili’s recent outburst at a fan Q+A event. Nurmagomedov is the presumptive No. 1 bantamweight contender after defeating Cory Sandhagen at UFC Abu Dhabi earlier this year. The undefeated Dagestani seemed destined to face Dvalishvili following the latter’s title win over Sean O’Malley at UFC 306.

Harry Kettle - October 22, 2024

UFC champion Merab Dvalishvili believes Ilia Topuria will defeat Max Holloway at UFC 308 this weekend. On Saturday night, Ilia Topuria will defend his UFC featherweight championship against Max Holloway. It serves as the most important fight on the UFC 308 card and, for some, it’s the biggest fight of the year. Regardless of whether or not you agree with that sentiment, it’s hard to argue against the idea that this is a blockbuster bout.

Josh Evanoff - October 21, 2024

UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili is open to fighting anyone in his first title defense. ‘The Machine’ is fresh off his return to the cage in the main event of UFC 306 last month. At the Las Vegas Sphere, Merab Dvalishvili finally faced off with then-bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley. ‘Sugar’ famously won the gold with a knockout win over the Georgian’s teammate, Aljamain Sterling, last year.