We caught up with Stake Ambassador and reigning UFC Bantamweight Champion, Merab Dvalishvili ahead of his rematch with ‘Suga’ Sean O’Malley at UFC 316.
He revealed plans about the UFC working towards making ‘’UFC Georgia’’ happen as well as predicting fellow Georgian Ilia Topuria to defeat Charles Oliveira for the UFC Lightweight title.
Speaking to Stake, Dvalishvili said:
Being the bantamweight champion hasn’t changed my life one bit
Sean O’Malley is the clear number one contender
Patchy Mix is a good fighter, I wouldn’t mind fighting him for the belt
UFC are working towards having an event in Georgia
Ilia Topuria does everything better than Charles Oliveira – he will beat
Training camp has gone well – The fans are going to have a great fight
Aljamain Sterling and Volaknovski are friends – they won’t fight each other
Merab Dvalishvili: Sean O’Malley is the clear number one contender and will give me a tough fight, Being the bantamweight champion hasn’t changed my life one bit and Ilia Topuria does everything better than Charles Oliveira – he will beat him
Being the bantamweight champion hasn’t changed my life one bit
My life doesn’t change much. I still live in the same house, I still have the same friends, still have the same good people around me. I think that if I have changed, it’s only in good ways. I’ve become more humble, now I have more opportunities to help people and motivate the young generation by giving them good advice, and showing them a good example. I am grateful, so blessed, and before I never dreamed of becoming champion because of where I come from. But now I have this respect, and a gold belt, but like I said, I am more humble and grateful for life.
Sean O’Malley is the clear number one contender
No I wasn’t surprised because right now, Sean is the clear contender. Cory Sandhagen just won, Yan maybe, but I already beat him. The UFC gave me this decision, and I think Sean will make some adjustments and this will be a really tough fight. I respect him a lot, but I am ready to do my job.
Patchy Mix is a good fighter, I wouldn’t mind fighting him for the belt
Patchy Mix is a very good fighter. I train with him once in a while and he’s one of the toughest sparring partners. We’ve talked before and I am happy for him that he’s in the UFC now, and if we have to fight in the future for the belt, it’s nothing personal, this is his family and my family, and we’re going to share the octagon respectfully and shake hands after the fight and wish each other best.
UFC are working towards having an event in Georgia
Yes actually, we are working to have a UFC in Georgia, so let’s see how it goes. Georgia has two champions and some big fighters like Dolidze, Chikadze, and Topuria, as well as some good young guys coming up, so let’s see.
Lot’s of people are interested, and training MMA in Georgia and we have a good generation of fighters. We have good wrestling but to transfer from wrestling to MMA takes time, but you guys will soon see some younger Georgian fighters in the UFC.
Ilia Topuria does everything better than Charles Oliveira – he will beat him
The last time I saw Ilia was in Australia when his brother Aleksandre had his UFC debut. We spoke a lot, we always have a chat and are speaking over text and calling each other. He’s been training in Madrid and he’s more than ready to get that new belt.
I respect Charles Oliveria, and I love him, but Ilia got this fight because he has everything – boxing and jiu jitsu. Ilia’s power in the strike will be better than Charles, and even if Charles tries to take him down, Ilia will stuff that and he can even stop Charles’ submission attacks. I think Ilia will beat him in the striking.
Training camp has gone well – The fans are going to have a great fight
Training camp is good, everything has been great and I’m ready. None of the bumps and bruises will affect me, and I feel good physically and mentally. Fans need to stay tuned, buy the PPV and enjoy what will be a great fight.
Aljamain Sterling and Volaknovski are friends – they won’t fight each other
Sterling isn’t chasing the fight against Volkanovski. Before he was just mentioning his name because he wanted to become double champ. I think especially now, they train together and they’re cool and are friends.
Roberto Villa is the CEO, Founder, Executive Writer, Senior Editor of FightBook MMA. Has a passion for Combat Sports and also a podcast host for Sitting Ringside. He’s also a former MMA fighter and Kickboxer.
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