Bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili efficiently defended his title a 3rd time at UFC 320 on Oct. 4. He tied his teammate, Aljamain Sterling, for essentially the most consecutive title defenses in UFC bantamweight historical past.
Dvalishvili captured the 135-pound championship by defeating then-champion Sean O’Malley at UFC 306 in September 2024. He defended the belt in opposition to Umar Nurmagomedov, then defeated O’Malley in a rematch earlier than defeating Cory Sandhagen within the UFC 320 co-main occasion.
Dvalishvili holds wins excessive 4 ranked fighters within the division. Contemplating his resume and title defenses, O’Malley believes “The Machine” is the best bantamweight of all time.
“To beat Merab, you need to, you simply must land that shot. You may have to have the ability to f**king snipe him,” O’Malley stated on his YouTube channel. “He was getting a bit of bit extra reckless. The extra assured he will get in his putting the extra gaps it leaves open to be caught. That is simply the one (manner). I do not see actually anybody beating him.”
“I do not see anybody actually beating Merab anytime quickly. He must be clipped. He must be knocked out and put to sleep to beat him. I simply do not see anybody apart from myself with the ability to try this,” continued O’Malley.
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“Merab has cemented himself best bantamweight of all time, clearly. He is on a loopy win streak proper now, 14. Broke a document, first to 100 takedowns, or some sh*t, most takedowns in a five-round struggle. He is an absolute f**king machine. What a nickname for him too, simply ‘The Machine.'”
Dvalishvili breaks fighters together with his relentless ahead strain and takedown capability. His enhancing putting has added one other harmful aspect to his arsenal. The Georgian hasn’t misplaced a struggle since April 2018 and needs to squeeze in one other bout this 12 months. It will be a record-breaking fourth title protection in a 12-month span.
