Ilia Topuria persuades Merab Dvalishvili to move up to 145 lbs for clash with legendary rival

UFC lightweight champion Ilia Topuria wants fellow Georgian Merab Dvalishvili to take on his former featherweight rival in pursuit of a second UFC title.

Ilia Topuria became the latest two-division UFC champ when he knocked out Charles Oliveira at UFC 317 earlier this year. After vacating the featherweight throne, Topuria successfully moved up to lightweight and cemented himself as the pound-for-pound king.

As Topuria prepares for his first lightweight title defense in 2026, fellow Georgian Merab Dvalishvili is quickly making a strong case to be in the pound-for-pound conversation. Dvalishvili most recently defeated Cory Sandhagen by unanimous decision at UFC 320 in another dominant performance.

While Dvalishvili hasn’t competed at featherweight in his UFC tenure, Topuria believes he can dethrone his former rival, Alexander Volkanovski, to become the UFC’s latest ‘champ-champ’.

Ilia Topuria reveals he’s pushed Merab Dvalishvili to pursue featherweight throne

During a recent interview with Betsson Sport, Topuria weighed in on Dvalishvili’s chances at potentially earning a second UFC title.

“Merab is not normal,” Topuria said.

“I told him he needs to change weight classes, because he will 100 percent win a second belt. I have no doubts about what happens in that [Volkanovski] fight.

“It ends with Merab winning.” (h/t Bloody Elbow)

Despite Topuria’s pushes, Dvalishvili recently admitted that he wants to stay in the bantamweight division for the foreseeable future. But Topuria could potentially change Dvalishvili’s mind, especially as the weight cut to 135 lbs becomes more difficult.

Volkanovski recaptured the UFC featherweight title by defeating Diego Lopes at UFC 314 earlier this year in Miami. He’s expected to face either Lerone Murphy or Movsar Evloev for the first title defense of his second title reign.

Dvalishvili and Topuria are doing historic things in the UFC Octagon, and their close friendship means a fight between them is extremely unlikely. But Topuria believes he can continue to push Dvalishvili towards taking his former throne.