Merab Dvalishvili, impressed everyone with his exceptional wrestling skills a while back, during a folkstyle tournament where he defeated all his opponents.
Dvalishvili proved to everyone that he is not to be underestimated. The Georgian headlined UFC Vegas last weekend and faced former champion Petr Yan as an underdog. But, the outcome was very surprising.
Dvalishvili heavily outmatched the Russian with his phenomenal wrestling. He made Yan look helpless for nearly five rounds. ‘The Machine’ also made history by attempting 49 takedowns, surpassing Khabib Nurmagomedov’s record for most takedown attempts in a single bout.
Dvalishvili came out as the winner via unanimous decision with all three judges scoring the event 50-45 for him. His dominant wrestling comes as no surprise. The 32-year-old started practicing khridoli, sambo, and judo from a young age.
Recently, an old video of Merab Dvalishvili showcasing his wrestling resurfaced and went viral. The video showed him challenging competitors in a folkstyle wrestling competition. It was ahead of his bout against Marlon Moraes in September 2021.
Dvalishvili can be seen taking multiple opponents one-by-one. Much like his performance in the octagon, Dvalishvili dominated his opponents pretty effortlessly.
That wasn’t the only time Dvalishvili competed in a wrestling tournament. In the same year, he took second place in the Sambo World Championships in South Korea. He competed at 68 kilograms and lost against Stepan Kobenov in the finals.
With his latest UFC outing, Dvalishvili marked his 9th win in a row and is currently sitting at number 3 in the bantamweight rankings. He is now in a strong position to challenge for the title.
However, Dvalishvili previously indicated that he refused to face his friend and teammate Aljamain Sterling. He is now has fewer options and is rumored to be Umar Nurmagomedov’s next opponent.