Merab Dvalishvili comfortably beat Sean O'Malley on the scorecards to win the UFC bantamweight championship at UFC 306. He secured six takedowns, ten minutes of ground control, and outstruck the champion to silence all the doubters.
"The Machine" had to wait a long time to get his first UFC title shot. After losing his first two fights in the promotion, he won ten in a row and fired through top tier competition like Henry Cejudo, Petr Yan, and Jose Aldo to become the undeniable contender.
Many believe that Dvalishvili's fighting style is one reason why the UFC didn't push him as much as other stars like Sean O'Malley, Umar Nurmagomedov, or Ilia Topuria. Here's what Georges St-Pierre's coach thinks on the matter...
GSP's Coach Criticzes Merab Dvalishvili For Rarely Threatening To Finish Sean O'Malley Or Past Opponents
Firas Zahabi discussed the UFC 306 main event on the Tristar Gym YouTube channel recently. The coach admitted to loving Dvalishvili's unhinged personality and smartness inside the Octagon but couldn't help but notice the lack of finishes on his record.
His finishing record is abysmal guys. I gotta be honest. I'm telling you guys I love the guy he's the new world champion I think he's awesome. However, his finishing rate. Imagine you could take down almost everybody you've ever fought and you literally only have one submission. That doesn't make any sense. It doesn't make any sense. You're literally taking everyone down, how come you never finish?
Zahabi highlighted that Dvalishvili has had the potential to take down all his opponents (except Jose Aldo). Still, he only has one submission win in his pro MMA record which is as baffling as it sounds.
According to GSP's coach, Dvalishvili must prioritize finishing his fights as a champ. His title victory already has MMA circles divided and a couple of similar performances might stop him from reaping all the benefits of being a UFC champion.
If he doesn't do it. I'll tell you something. The fans will get sick of him. They'll get sick of him running around the ring and just taking people down. Running around the ring and taking people down, like, they're going to get sick of that. He has to entertain the crowd, he has to show finishing ability. If he doesn't, can be disastrous to his career.