Merab Dvalishvili News

Chris Taylor - January 18, 2025

The Octagon returned to Inglewood for tonight’s UFC 311 pay-per-view event, and four fighters wound up taking home performance bonuses. The event was headlined by a lightweight title fight featuring Islam Makhachev taking on Renato Moicano. The bout proved to be a short night for reigning lightweight champion Islam Makhachev. After being stung by a good combination in the early moments of the contest, Islam quickly secured a takedown and proceeded to lock in a fight-ending d’arce choke (see that here). With the win, Makhachev now holds the record for most title defenses at lightweight (4), surpassing BJ Penn and Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Chris Taylor - January 18, 2025

Tonight’s UFC 311 pay-per-view event was co-headlined by a men’s bantamweight title fight between Merab Dvalishvili and Umar Nurmagomedov. Nurmagomedov (18-1 MMA) had entered his first career title fight sporting a perfect professional record. The ‘Young Eagle’ had most previously competed this past August, where he scored a unanimous decision victory over perennial contender Cory Sandhagen.

Chris Taylor - January 18, 2025

We have you covered for all of tonight’s UFC 311 results, including the co-main event title fight between Merab Dvalishvili and Umar Nurmagomedov. Dvalishvili (18-4 MMA) will be looking to earn his first career title defense this evening. ‘The Machine’ captured the promotion‘s 135lbs title this past September at UFC 306, when he defeated Sean O’Malley by unanimous decision.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - January 17, 2025

UPDATE: The UFC 311 weigh-ins have ended and during the scale measurements, it was announced that Arman Tsarukyan has been replaced in the main event by Renato Moicano due to injury. The UFC 311 weigh-ins are underway.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - January 14, 2025

Aljamain Sterling believes Merab Dvalishvili will silence the doubters once his UFC 311 clash with Umar Nurmagomedov has come to a close. Dvalishvili and Nurmagomedov are set to clash this Saturday night at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, CA. The UFC Bantamweight Championship will be at stake, and Dvalishvili is in search of his first successful title defense. A win for Nurmagomedov would mark his first UFC title victory.

Harry Kettle - January 13, 2025

UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili has issued an injury warning ahead of his co-main event at UFC 311. As we know, Merab Dvalishvili is the king of the bantamweight division. He earned that title through years of hard work, capping it off with a victory over Sean O’Malley at the Sphere that earned him the gold.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - January 12, 2025

Merab Dvalishvili believes he has a strong business relationship with UFC CEO Dana White. Dvalishvili has been pushing himself as a company man as of late. White had previously expressed his gripes with the Georgian champion. The UFC boss wasn’t happy with Dvalishvili revealing he suffered a cut during sparring ahead of his UFC 306 title fight against Sean O’Malley.

Harry Kettle - January 10, 2025

UFC star Ilia Topuira could end up being in the corner of Merab Dvalishvili for his title fight at UFC 311 next weekend. Right now, Ilia Topuria is one of the biggest stars in all of mixed martial arts. He is the UFC featherweight champion, he’s built up a huge name for himself, and last year he knocked out both Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway. If that isn’t impressive, we truly don’t know what is.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - January 5, 2025

Umar Nurmagomedov’s coach doesn’t understand why Merab Dvalishvili feels his fighter doesn’t deserve his UFC 311 title fight. Nurmagomedov is scheduled to challenge Dvalishvili for the UFC Bantamweight Championship on January 18th. It’ll Nurmagomedov’s first crack at UFC gold. He earned the title opportunity after defeating Cory Sandhagen via unanimous decision back in August 2024.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - January 5, 2025

Sean O’Malley has a preference for who he wants the UFC bantamweight champion to be when he’s ready to return. O’Malley lost the 135-pound gold to Merab Dvalishvili back in September. The “Suga” show was outworked by his opponent, who effectively utilized his grappling to get the better of the now former bantamweight ruler. O’Malley was defeated via unanimous decision inside The Sphere in Las Vegas.

Cole Shelton - January 2, 2025

Umar Nurmagomedov believes he will finish Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 311. Nuramgomedov is set to challenge Dvalishvili for the bantamweight title in a highly-anticipated matchup. It’s a fight many fans are looking forward to, and Nurmagomedov enters the bout with plenty of confidence, as he believes he won’t just win, but will finish Dvalshvili.

Josh Evanoff - December 30, 2024

UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili wants to be very, very, very active next year. ‘The Machine’ last appeared in the octagon in September, in the main event of Noche UFC. There, Merab Dvalishvili finally got his crack at bantamweight gold, against the hard-hitting Sean O’Malley. Ultimately, the wrestler largely controlled ‘Sugar’, winning the bout by unanimous decision after five rounds of action.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - December 19, 2024

One top-ranked UFC bantamweight doesn’t believe Merab Dvalishvili will get past Umar Nurmagomedov. Dvalishvili will put the 135-pound gold at stake when he meets Nurmagomedov at the UFC 311 pay-per-view on January 18th. The bout will be held inside the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, CA. It’ll be the UFC 311 co-main event. Nurmagomedov is hoping to secure UFC gold before his teammate Islam Makhachev defends his lightweight title against Arman Tsarukyan in the main event.

Cole Shelton - December 18, 2024

Aljamain Sterling is frustrated with how Merab Dvalishvili vs Umar Nurmagomedov was made. Dvalishvili is set to defend his bantamweight title for the first time in the co-main event of UFC 311 against Nurmagomedov. It’s the fight many fans wanted to see, but Sterling doesn’t like how the bout was made on short notice.

Josh Evanoff - December 10, 2024

UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili wants an apology from Umar Nurmagomedov. ‘The Machine’ finally has his first title defense set. Just a few months removed from defeating Sean O’Malley, Merab Dvalishvili will defend the gold against Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311 in January. For his part, ‘Young Eagle’ earned the title opportunity by defeating Cory Sandhagen by unanimous decision in August.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - December 10, 2024

One former UFC star is on Merab Dvalishvili’s side when it comes to fan altercations. Dvalishvili was in attendance for UFC 310 in support of Aljamain Sterling. After Sterling dropped a unanimous decision to Movsar Evloev, Dvalishvili got physical with a fan in the crowd. The bantamweight champion has since claimed the fan in question was a plant set up by Umar Nurmagomedov and his team.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - December 8, 2024

Dana White has reacted to Merab Dvalishvili’s latest incident with a fan. Dvalishvili was in attendance for UFC 310 in support of his teammate Aljamain Sterling. On the preliminary portion of the card, Sterling dropped a unanimous decision to Movsar Evloev in a competitive fight. Dvalishvili ended up getting physical with a fan in the stands, something that has become common for the reigning UFC bantamweight champion.

Harry Kettle - December 8, 2024

UFC star Sean O’Malley has taken a shot at former opponents Aljamain Sterling and Merab Dvalishvili following UFC 310. As was the case for most of us last night, Sean O’Malley was watching closely during a really fascinating UFC 310 pay-per-view event. It featured some notable moments for two of his rivals, too, with Aljamain Sterling losing to Movsar Evloev and Merab Dvalishvili getting involved in a fight with a fan in the crowd.