UFC bantamweight Merab Dvalishvili is looking to book his next fight against another higher-ranked opponent.
Rising prospect Merab has been on fire since signing for the UFC in 2017. Having dropped his first two outings under the banner, Merab went on to rack up seven wins in a row. In his latest outing at UFC 266, ‘The Machine’ cruised past Marlon Moraes to secure a win by TKO in the second round.
Merab Dvalishvili “would love to fight” Sean O’Malley
In a recent appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Merab Dvalishvili spoke about who he has in mind for his next opponent. Having been out of action since last September, Dvalishvili revealed the potential athletes he would like to compete against.
“I would love to fight ‘Sugar’ Sean O’Malley but he has a fight already. He’s ducking me for three years. Last three years, I’ve been calling him. Who else? Maybe, I would love to fight ‘Chito’ Vera. I would love a fight with Dominick Cruz, Cory Sandhagen.”
Merab gets support from Aljamain Sterling
In a recent post uploaded to his Instagram, Aljamain Sterling backed Merab Dvalishvili to “wreak havoc” on the bantamweight division as he teased a move up to featherweight. No contender has called out the upcoming Georgian who received major backing from the reigning king at 135-lbs.
“I’m blessed I have friends like him. What else should I say? It already says everything because that’s how true of a friend he is and he’s the best. I learn so much from him and still learning everything. He’s the reason why I’m like, where I fight now and I’m just thankful, grateful. He’s a great man, we never fight each other”
“I don’t even think about title yet. As long as Aljo is champion and Aljo will be champion long as he wants to be.”
The respect between the two training partners is evident from the way they talk about each other. Aljo believes Merab will follow in his footsteps and take over the bantamweight strap once Sterling is out of the way.
