Sneako appears to be a glutton for punishment.
Days after he was left bloodied and battered via a viral beatdown from former UFC middleweight world champion Sean Strickland, the controversial Rumble streamer was back at it. This time, Sneak was putting his grappling skills to the test against the No. 1 ranked bantamweight in the world — Merab Dvalishvili.
In the video clip, which you can see below, ‘The Machine’ absolutely manhandles Sneako in a variety of positions before ultimately submitting him out by way of a rear-naked choke.
Merab did Sneako worse than Strickland did 😭 pic.twitter.com/LEvd37MFMl
— Ben Davis (@BenTheBaneDavis) February 22, 2024
At least when Sneako gave himself up this time, Dvalishvili stopped the onslaught — a courtesy Sean Strickland did not provide.
Merab Dvalishvili Finally Earns His Shot at UFC Gold
Dvalishvili is coming off perhaps the biggest win of his mixed martial arts career at UFC 298 in Anaheim. ‘The Machine’ went toe-to-toe with former two-division titleholder and Olympic gold medalist Henry Cejudo. ‘Triple C’ looked as good as ever in the opening round, but ultimately, it was Dvalishvili’s cardio that would win the day, securing his 10th-straight victory via a unanimous decision over Cejudo.
Skyrocketing to the top of the division’s top 10, Merab Dvalishvili is expected to face the winner of next month’s bantamweight title bout pitting reigning and defending champion ‘Sugar’ Sean O’Malley against the only man to ever defeat him inside the Octagon, Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera.
“He looked good tonight, man,” UFC CEO Dana White said of Dvalishvili’s performance at the UFC 298 post-fight press event. “He did what he had (to do). In my opinion, you can’t take three years off in a combat sport. It’s never done well for anybody. Cejudo looked great in the first round. I thought he started to gas out in the second round. Merab just got stronger as the fight went on.”
White went on to confirm that Dvalishvili is the next man in line for a shot at the bantamweight title, much to the chagrin of Sean O’Malley who had already begun angling for a superfight with new featherweight world champion Ilia Topuria.
