UFC Bantamweight Champion Merab Dvalishvili intends on living up to his “Machine” moniker in 2025.
Dvalishvili will enter a new year with gold in his possession for the first time, having dethroned Sean O’Malley in the main event of UFC 306 at the Sphere this past September.
But the Georgian won’t have long to celebrate the start of a fresh year before getting back to work inside the cage. He’s slated to co-headline the very first pay-per-view of 2025, defending his belt against the undefeated Umar Nurmagomedov.
While the champ will make the walk at UFC 311 as the underdog, he’s confident of emerging from Inglewood’s Intuit Dome with the belt still around his waist. And beyond Jan. 18, Dvalishvili isn’t planning on taking things slow.
During a recent interview uploaded to the UFC Espanol YouTube channel, Dvalishvili outlined his target of four defenses this calendar year, including three in the first two quarters.
“I want to win this fight and I want to be busy in 2025,” Dvalishvili said. “I’m fighting early this year, Jan. 18, and I just want to be busy. I know (Sean) O’Malley wants to come back in April. I think Petr (Yan) will be ready in March. So maybe fight Petr in March, rematch (O’Malley) in April, and whoever will be the next contender (after that), I will take. I will clean the division again.”
Petr Yan staked his claim for a rematch opposite Dvalishvili by comfortably getting the better of Deiveson Figueiredo in Macau last Month. The result left him 2-0 since falling short against “The Machine” in early 2023.
O’Malley, meanwhile, headed for the operating room to repair a torn labrum in the aftermath of his decision loss to Dvalishvili a few months back. He’s made clear his plan to secure redemption against the Georgian upon his recovery.
