Tag: Merab Dvalishvili

Ilia Topuria rejects Sean O’Malley’s post-UFC 299 callout, says to fight Merab Dvalishvili first

Ilia Topuria is open to a future champion-vs-champion showdown with Sean O’Malley, but not just yet.

[autotag]Ilia Topuria[/autotag] is open to a future champion-vs-champion showdown with [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag], but not just yet.

After O’Malley (15-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) defended his bantamweight title for the first time with a unanimous decision win over Marlon Vera in Saturday’s UFC 299 headliner at Kaseya Center in Miami, he called out featherweight titleholder Topuria, who captured the belt with a second-round knockout of Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298 in February.

O’Malley (18-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC) said the matchup intrigues him, and certainly more so than the next top contender at 135 pounds, [autotag]Merab Dvalishvili[/autotag].

Dvalishvili (17-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC) is riding a 10-fight winning streak and has been given previous assurances of a title shot next. Topuria could step in the way of his fellow Georgian by leaning into the callout from O’Malley, but he is going the other direction and said the time isn’t right (via X):

Suga, congrats.. Was a beautiful performance! There is a fight chasing you with Merab.. Get that done first .

It’s unclear whom Topuria will fight for his first title defense at 145 pounds, but there’s a good chance it will take place in Spain. UFC CEO Dana White expressed interest in bringing the promotion to the country for the first time after Topuria’s win over Volkanovski.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 299.

UFC 299 weigh-in results, video: Fighter misses mark for third time

Tune in as the 28 fighters (plus one backup) from UFC 299 hit the scale in Miami.

MIAMI – The official UFC 299 weigh-ins took place Friday at the host hotel, and MMA Junkie was onsite as all 28 fighters (plus one backup) hit the scales ahead of Saturday’s event at Kaseya Center.

Among those who weighed in were UFC bantamweight champion [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] (17-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC), who faces [autotag]Marlon Vera[/autotag] (21-8-1 MMA, 15-7 UFC) in a rematch years in the making.

O’Malley made weight early in the window, with Vera coming a bit later on in the initial one-hour window. Vera needed the box and breathed a sigh of relief as he officially hit 135 pounds.

Top bantamweight contender [autotag]Merab Dvalishvili[/autotag] (17-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC) weighed in between the two main eventers, as the official backup fighter and will serve as a replacement if either O’Malley or Vera cannot compete.

Also, [autotag]Dustin Poirier[/autotag] (29-8 MMA, 21-7 UFC) and [autotag]Benoit Saint Denis[/autotag] (13-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) made weight early and with seemingly (relative ease).

One fighter missed weight, however, despite two attempts. [autotag]CJ Vergara[/autotag] (12-4-1 MMA, 3-2 UFC) missed his mark for the third time in six UFC appearances as he came in at 127 for his flyweight bout vs. [autotag]Asu Almabaev[/autotag] (18-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC).

Check out a live stream archive of the UFC 299 official weigh-ins above, as well as a list of full results below.

MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)

  • Champ Sean O’Malley (135) vs. Marlon Vera (135) – for bantamweight title
  • Dustin Poirier (156) vs. Benoit Saint-Denis (155) – five rounds
  • Kevin Holland (170) vs. Michael Page (170)
  • Gilbert Burns (171) vs. Jack Della Maddalena (170)
  • Yadong Song (136) vs. Petr Yan (135)

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPNews/ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET)

  • Jailton Almeida (261) vs. Curtis Blaydes (257)
  • Maycee Barber (125) vs. Katlyn Cerminara (125)
  • Rafael dos Anjos (156) vs. Mateusz Gamrot (156)
  • Pedro Munhoz (135) vs. Kyler Phillips (135)

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 6 p.m. ET)

  • Ion Cutelaba (205) vs. Philipe Lins (206)
  • Michal Oleksiejczuk (185) vs. Michel Pereira (186)
  • Robelis Despaigne (261) vs. Josh Parisian (266)
  • Asu Almabaev (126) vs. CJ Vergara (127)*
  • Maryna Moroz (126) vs. Joanne Wood (125)

* = missed flyweight limit by one pound; fined 30 percent but bout will proceed

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 299.

Merab Dvalishvili to serve as UFC 299 backup for Sean O’Malley vs. Marlon Vera

No. 1 contender Merab Dvalishvili is set as the backup fighter for the main event of UFC 299, should something go awry during fight week.

Should something go wrong in the final hours ahead of the UFC 299 main event, [autotag]Merab Dvalishvili[/autotag] will be ready to step in for his long-awaited shot at gold.

The pay-per-view event taking place March 9 at Kaseya Center in Miami is headlined by a bantamweight title fight between champion [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] and challenger [autotag]Marlon Vera[/autotag]. Dvalishvili (17-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC) is preparing to travel to Florida and intends to make weight Friday morning to serve as the backup fighter, should his services be needed. Oren Hodak of KO Reps confirmed the news to MMA Junkie Tuesday evening.

The UFC typically has assigned a backup fighter for title fights in recent years, but as of yet, their services have not been needed.

Dvalishvili is currently on a 10-fight winning streak, which includes three consecutive wins over former UFC titleholders. In his last outing at UFC 298, which took place less than three weeks ago, Dvalishvili defeated former two-division champion Henry Cejudo in a clean unanimous decision to secure No. 1 contender status.

“Whoever will be champion, I’m going to face him next,” Dvalishvili said during his in-cage post-fight interview. “I’ve been calling Sean O’Malley since 2018. … My only goal is for the title now.”

“The Machine” will be ready to step in to fulfill his title shot hopes on short notice should something go wrong during fight week with O’Malley (17-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) or Vera (23-8-1 MMA, 15-7 UFC). Neither fighter scheduled for the main event has missed weight during their UFC tenures.

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Sean O’Malley: Merab Dvalishvili fight more exciting because people think he can’t be beat

It took a while for Merab Dvalishvili to get Sean O’Malley’s attention.

It took a while for [autotag]Merab Dvalishvili[/autotag] to get [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag]’s attention.

Dvalishvili (17-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC) is on a 10-fight winning streak, most recently overwhelming former two-division champion Henry Cejudo at UFC 298. He was declared as No. 1 contender by UFC CEO Dana White.

UFC bantamweight champion O’Malley (17-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) was initially more interested in fighting featherweight champ Ilia Topuria, but has recently changed his tune on Dvalishvili. He commends him for his work in and out of the octagon.

“It reminded me of rewatching (Aljamain Sterling) vs. Henry,” O’Malley told Kevin Iole of Dvalishvili’s win over Cejudo. “I watched that live, rewatched it when I got home, and I was like, ‘I just seen openings. I seen holes. I seen opportunities that I could take advantage of and put lights out.’ Merab wasn’t a very exciting fight three, four fights ago because it’s decision, decision, decision, and that’s not that exciting until it is exciting – that no one can beat him.

“He has this crazy gas tank. He’s done a good job on his social media. He’s done a good job kind of building himself, and he’s beat Henry, he’s beat a bunch of guys. So that fight gets a little bit more exciting when people are saying he’s unbeatable. Three, four fights ago, people asked me about Merab, I was like, ‘He’s so boring.’ But now it’s kind of ‘No one can beat him’ type feel, so that fight is a little bit more interesting.”

O’Malley makes his first title defense in a rematch against Marlon Vera in the UFC 299 headliner March 9 at Kaseya Center in Miami.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 299.

Merab Dvalishvili breaks down how he matches up vs. UFC 299 headliners Sean O’Malley, Marlon Vera

Now the No. 1 contender at bantamweight, Merab Dvalishvili is looking ahead at how he matches up against the UFC 299 headliners.

Now the No. 1 contender at bantamweight, [autotag]Merab Dvalishvili[/autotag] is looking ahead at how he matches up against the UFC 299 headliners.

Sean O’Malley (17-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) makes his first title defense in a rematch against Marlon Vera (21-8-1 MMA, 15-7 UFC) on March 9 at Kaseya Center in Miami. Like many rising bantamweight contenders, Dvalishvili has called out O’Malley in the past. He rates the champion’s striking skills highly but is confident he can get him down to the mat.

“Let’s talk about O’Malley. I see him as a dangerous opponent because he has good footwork,” Dvalishvili said on the MIGHTYcast podcast. “He has knockout power. He has a very strong right hand, and he has good timing. I see him as a dangerous fighter and once he win Contender Series, and once I saw him in UFC, I wanted to fight him because I want to challenge myself, and I’m still looking that way.

“I think I should keep it smart, just patient, keep it striking, and just wait for my time to shoot. If he defends and (I) let him go, and I’m going to shoot again, and then maybe make him slow, make him tired, and actually I will take him down.”

As for Vera, Dvalishvili praised “Chito’s” patience,  but admitted he’s not as well versed when it comes to his game.

“I think ‘Chito’ is also a good fighter, very smart,” Dvalishvili said. “He’s waiting. He’s in his pocket. He’s patient, and then he’s like slow, but he’s sharp. Of course, he has a lot of experience in UFC. He’s been in so many fights – some win, some loss. He’s dangerous, of course. He has good kicks as well, but I don’t study him much, ‘Chito’ Vera yet.

“One thing is for sure, I will just train hard. What I learned is, you’ve got to go step by step. Every fight, like, you know, like, let’s say I’m focused on my next fight, next fight, next fight. That’s how I’ve been, and I realized that couple of years ago, just focus on next fight. So if ‘Chito’ will win, I will just start studying him but just keep doing my thing.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 299.

Video: Any reason Merab Dvalishvili shouldn’t be the next UFC bantamweight title challenger?

How can Merab Dvalishvili be denied after the week he had at UFC 298 culminated with his 10th win in a row?

[autotag]Merab Dvalishvili[/autotag] might’ve made the biggest overall splash last week at UFC 298.

Yes, Ilia Topuria claimed gold, but Dvalishvili won over the crowd leading up to his fight and then proceeded to defeat Henry Cejudo by unanimous decision for his 10th win in a row to stake his claim as the next bantamweight title challenger.

Afterward, Dvalishvili even went so far as to say he could serve as the backup for the UFC 299 headliner between champ Sean O’Malley and Marlon Vera on March 9 in Miami.

Is there any reason Dvalishvili shouldn’t be the next challenger at 135 pounds? Our “Spinning Back Clique” or Mike Bohn, Matthew Wells and Brian “Goze” Garcia answered that with host “Gorgeous” George Garcia.

Watch the conversation in the video above, and check out this week’s full episode on YouTube below.

Ray Longo proud that Merab Dvalishvili and Aljamain Sterling put friendship first, didn’t ‘sell out for $100,000’

Dana White thought it was a mistake when Aljamain Sterling and Merab Dvalishvili wouldn’t fight each other, but Ray Longo is glad they didn’t.

Ray Longo praised his star students, [autotag]Merab Dvalishvili[/autotag] and [autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag], for never fighting each other.

When Sterling was bantamweight champion, streaking contender Dvalishvili (17-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC) refused to fight his teammate for the title, which UFC CEO Dana White heavily criticized.

But after Sterling lost his bantamweight title and moved up to featherweight, the door opened for Dvalishvili, who was declared No. 1 contender for his impressive win over Henry Cejudo this past Saturday at UFC 298.

“To me, this is going to go down as one of the greatest human interest stories in MMA,” Longo said in a recent episode of the “Anik & Florian” podcast. “How these two guys formed a brotherhood and they didn’t succumb to all the bullsh*t. They didn’t sell out for $100,000.

“They put their friendship first and now everything’s working out, and they had to take a lot of sh*t for it. Aljo got tortured over it. Merab got tortured. Whether they want to say it or not, actions speak louder than words. We don’t have to hear it. We could see it. Aljo held to his word. He didn’t have to move up. He wanted to move up. He wants to see Merab get that shot.”

Sterling makes his 145-pound debut against perennial contender Calvin Kattar at UFC 300 on April 13. Meanwhile, Dvalishvili awaits the winner of the bantamweight title fight between champion Sean O’Malley and Marlon Vera, which headlines UFC 299 on March 9 in Miami.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 298.

Why Sean O’Malley is seeking fight vs. ‘scary’ fellow UFC champ Ilia Topuria over Merab Dvalishvili

Fighting Ilia Topuria gets Sean O’Malley a lot more excited than facing Merab Dvalishvili.

Fighting [autotag]Ilia Topuria[/autotag] gets [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] a lot more excited than facing [autotag]Merab Dvalishvili[/autotag].

O’Malley (17-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) has been calling to fight Topuria, who claimed the featherweight title by knocking out Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298. On the same night, Dvalishvili outlasted former dual champion Henry Cejudo in an impressive showing.

But bantamweight champion O’Malley sees Topuria (15-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) as the much bigger and dangerous fight.

“He knocked out the featherweight GOAT in Round 2. I knocked out Aljo (Sterling), the bantamweight GOAT, in Round 2,” O’Malley said of Topuria on “The MMA Hour.” “I’ve kind of pushed that fight a little bit. I’ve been getting a lot of hate for it, a little pushback saying that I’m ducking Merab. I’m like, Merab just barely – not barely, he whooped Henry, but Henry is like 42 or something. He looked horrible. I would’ve knocked Henry out four times that fight. And then Ilia goes out there and knocks out Volk, the greatest featherweight of all time in Round 2 in a beautiful performance.

“And I’m calling him out, and I’m getting sh*t from the MMA fans, saying, ‘Oh, you’re ducking Merab.’ I’m trying to call out a fight that I feel is exciting, that’s like holy sh*t, but I got a lot of pushback on it. I don’t know if people actually want me to fight Merab as much as they just hate the confidence that I have that I would go out there and knock out Ilia. But I decided, I’ve said what I needed to say, I’ve sent my message to Ilia. If Merab is next, Merab is next. I can get Ilia whenever, whenever the time comes.”

O’Malley makes his first title defense in a rematch against Marlon Vera in the UFC 299 main event March 9 at Kaseya Center in Miami.

UFC CEO Dana White declared Dvalishvili (17-4 MMA, 9-2 UFC) as the No. 1 contender, and O’Malley is willing to fight him if he gets past Vera. He just sees Topuria as a fight that gets him up at night.

“Merab is very beatable,” O’Malley said. “Henry about knocked him out, Marlon Moraes about knocked him out. Merab’s got a crazy good gas tank, he’s got good wrestling, and he’s a dangerous opponent. When I think of a scary opponent, like what makes me (shiver), that’s Ilia. Ilia gives me that – he could put your f*cking lights out and change your life. That’s a scary opponent.

“Merab is a dangerous opponent, he’s just got that good cardio and he could eventually put your lights out after you gas out, but he’s not like – he didn’t finish Henry. So, we’ll see. I like big, big fights. Merab, I’m not saying that wouldn’t be up there, but what it comes down to is, what do the people really, truly want to see? If they want to see Merab, that’s what’s next. But again, I hate even talking about that, I’ve got ‘Chito’ in front of me.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 298.

UFC 298 medical suspensions: Henry Cejudo among 9 fighters suspended 180 days

Nine UFC 298 competitors are out a potential 180 days due to injuries sustained in their fights Saturday in Anaheim, Calif.

Saturday’s UFC pay-per-view event in Anaheim, Calif. was not a good night to be a limb.

UFC 298 took place at Anaheim, Calif. and featured 12 bouts and 24 fighters. Nine of those fighters were handed six-month suspensions as a result of injuries sustained in their bouts. Eight of those potential injuries were deemed possible fractures.

Monday, California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) executive director Andy Foster, who oversaw the event, provided MMA Junkie with a full list of medical suspensions.

Scroll below to see how much time UFC 298 competitors will have to take off as a result of their bouts Saturday. It’s important to note fighters may return before the conclusion of their suspensions if they are cleared by a physician (unless denoted “no exception” or “mandatory”).

Sean O’Malley on Merab Dvalishvili’s win over Henry Cejudo: ‘Decent little fight from a couple little dudes’

Sean O’Malley accurately predicted Merab Dvalishvili vs. Henry Cejudo.

[autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] accurately predicted [autotag]Merab Dvalishvili[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Henry Cejudo[/autotag].

Dvalishvili (17-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC) overwhelmed former dual-champion Cejudo (16-4 MMA, 10-4 UFC) to win a unanimous decision on Saturday’s UFC 298 main card at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.

Bantamweight champion O’Malley picked Dvalishvili to win, and thought he put on a solid performance.

“It’s interesting watching fights live compared to on the TV,” O’Malley told ESPN on the UFC 298 post-fight show. “I’d like to watch it back on the TV to really give a full input. It was decent. I heard rumors that Henry had some injuries going into the fight. He looked a little winded, but Merab looked good. Decent little fight from a couple little dudes.”

O’Malley (17-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) makes his first title defense in a rematch against Marlon Vera in the UFC 299 headliner March 9 at Kaseya Center in Miami. UFC CEO Dana White declared Dvalishvili the No. 1 contender to challenge for the title, but O’Malley is currently focused on his fight.

“Three weeks, UFC 299, everything’s going so good,” O’Malley said. “I’ve got to get through ‘Chito’ before I can start saying I might fight him, I might fight this guy.”

O’Malley will look to avenge the lone loss of his career which came to Vera in August 2020. He hopes to mirror Israel Adesanya’s revenge knockout against Alex Pereira at UFC 287, which also took place in Miami.

“I’m pretty sure Israel Adesanya knocked out Alex Pereira in the rematch, am I right?” O’Malley said. “Interesting.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 298.