Following his stellar win against Cody Stamann, Merab Dvalishvili is ready for another fight but this time against a top contender.
After scoring a fast-paced win at UFC Vegas 25 against top-rated Stamann, there was little doubt that Merab Dvalishvili is the future of the bantamweight division. While his teammate, Aljamain Sterling is the current champion, the wrestling ability of the Georgian athlete is outstanding and very hard to deal with. Additionally, Dvalishvili’s relentless cardio exhausts his opponents before he even starts to breathe hard. With his sixth-consecutive win inside the octagon, the 30-year old athlete is on his way to fighting opponents with bigger names.
Once the Georgian got his hand raised in his last fight, he called out several top contenders in his post-fight speech on the UFC Youtube channel. Specifically, some of the names the bantamweight called out were T.J. Dillashaw, Sean O’Malley, and Marlon Moraes.
“They mentioned Marlon Moraes, and I would love to fight with him,” Dvalishvili told MMA Junkie “Big respect, he’s a great fighter, he’s a knockout artist, he submitted (Raphael) Assuncao. They mentioned his name, but who knows? Maybe he doesn’t want to fight me because he’s a big name. He’s a former WSOF champion, and he fought for the title against Henry Cejudo. He has a big name, so I don’t know.”
The 30-year old bantamweight mentioned that the promotion floated the idea of fighting Moraes, and Dvalishvili definitely expressed interest in the matchup. With three wins in 2020 and one already in 2021, Dvalishvili has been active and hopes to parlay that work into another opportunity against a bigger name later this year.
Who do you think would be an ideal opponent for the rising contender Merab Dvalishvili? Let us know in the comment section below and don’t miss our exclusive interview with the top bantamweight!
