Newly minted UFC champion Merab Dvalishvili reveals he was working a full time construction job until 2020
UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili has made a surprising revelation regarding his former career outside the cage.
Merab Dvalishvili is the new king at 135 pounds. Earlier this month at Noche UFC, he defeated Sean O’Malley to become the new champion – and he did so in emphatic fashion. It marks the end of a long journey for the Georgian superstar that saw him scratch and claw to make his way to the top of the mountain.
Along the way, he was forced to work other jobs alongside what he was doing in mixed martial arts. As it turns out, though, it was only when the COVID-19 pandemic hit that he was able to really start focusing on the sport full time.
Dvalishvili looks back on his life
“So I lost my first fight in UFC, and we know how UFC pay, it’s not well in the beginning,” Merab said. “$10,000 and you still have to pay your manager and some expenses. I buy car. I was driving very old car, and then no money. In my second fight, I got bonus, but I take off, I stop working. But when my next fight comes, I was broke again because I spent all this money. And I’m like like, now what?”
“When I win the next one, I keep this money and I stay working,” he said. “Because I don’t want [to be broke] again.”
“Now that I have a good training in Vegas, I have so many training partners,” he said. “I can go jujitsu. I can sparring, the MMA practice. So I rather do that.”
Quotes via MMA Mania
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