Henry Cejudo is considered one of the best fighters ever considering his feat of becoming a two-time UFC champion, but he has dubbed Merab Dvalishvili the GOAT of his own division.
Last Saturday at UFC 311, Merab Dvalishvili successfully defended his bantamweight title for the first time when he earned a unanimous decision victory over undefeated Umar Nurmagomedov.
'The Machine' went into the fight as the underdog despite being the defending champion, but once again showed off his weaponized cardio in rounds three, four and five, dominating the Russian.
READ MORE: 'Easier than expected'… Merab Dvalishvili's coach shares his assessment of UFC 311 fight with Umar Nurmagomedov
Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG
Henry Cejudo names Merab Dvalishvili his bantamweight GOAT after UFC 311
There was a lot of expectation from a large majority of the UFC fanbase that Nurmagomedov would maintain his undefeated record while becoming the new bantamweight champion at UFC 311.
That idea was also endorsed by former bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo, who picked Umar to defeat Dvalishvili for the fight.
However, following the Georgian's history-making performance, which saw him overtake Georges St-Pierre for the most takedowns in UFC history, Cejudo admitted that he now considers 'The Machine' to be the greatest bantamweight fighter of all time.
The Olympic gold medalist shared the Octagon with Dvalishvili at UFC 298 and Merab surprisingly dominated Cejudo with his relentless wrestling pressure.
Cejudo is just one of many big names Dvalishvili has faced on his rise to the top of the division, as he has also knocked out Jose Aldo, Petr Yan and Sean O'Malley, who could be his next title challenge.
“You have to give him his flowers and I can say, I was wrong,” Cejudo said on the Pound 4 Pound Podcast.
“Merab gained a different level of respect for me because of what he could do. He beat a young 29 year old who was undefeated… This was probably one of the greatest bantamweight fights of all time… Merab is the real man, he is the best in the world for a reason.
“I feel like you should at least put him in the top three pound-for-pound though… I eat my words… I don't feel so damn bad about losing anymore. Yeah, you gotta (call him the bantamweight GOAT) man.
“Yan, O'Malley, Cejudo, Umar, (Marlon) Moraes, Aldo, I mean he's fought everybody, dude. He has beaten everyone in this division in their prime. Merab is the bantamweight GOAT, man, at least in my eyes,” Cejudo admitted.
Merab Dvalishvili disagrees that he is the bantamweight GOAT
Despite Merab's growing popularity, following his UFC 311 win, he was asked if he considers himself in the bantamweight GOAT conversation and gave a surprising answer.
“No, Aljamain Sterling is the greatest, and don't forget Dominick Cruz is still one of the greatest,” Dvalishvili claimed.
Aljamain Sterling's friendship with Dvalishvili is well documented and it apparently caused problems for him and the UFC during his time as champion as he refused to fight Merab.
Dominick Cruz is still considered by many to be the greatest bantamweight of all time due to his long reign as champion, defeating Demetrious Johnson and TJ Dillashaw.
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