Bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili started his UFC career with back-to-back defeats.
The last of those losses came in bizarre circumstances when he fought against Ricky Simon in April 2018.
Dvalishvili claimed that he had eliminated himself for a Takedown in the third round, which ended when he kicked his legs for a minute when Simon squeezed a guillotine choke.
'The Machine' survived to hear the last bell, but the referee believed that he was unconscious when the fight ended and won a technical entry for his opponent, who returned to the Octagon in UFC Atlanta on Saturday evening.
Photo by Patrick Smith/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Ricky Simon Mauls opponent at UFC Atlanta
Simon's career is not smooth sailing since he defeated Dvalishvili seven years ago.
The 32-year-old went in his last four octagonal outings with 1-3 in his last fight.
Yet he was able to pick up two wins in a row when he sniffed Cameron SmoMherman at UFC Atlanta.
Simon used his superior grasping skills to dominate his opponent for the first two rounds.
Dvalishvili has done the same to put together a 13-Fecht winning run since he lost to the American.
Smootherman brought a few punches together at the end of the round three, but they didn't make a dent.
All three jury members gave Simon with score cards from 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28.
What is the next step for Merab Dvalishvili?
Merab Dvalishvili has submitted Sean O'Malley to arrange their rivalry forever at UFC 316 last weekend.
Bad luck, Talk focused on a potential defending defense against the old competition Cory Sandhagen.
UFC CEO Dana White signed during his press conference after the fight on that matchup.
'The Umar [Nurmagomedov] Rematch is interesting, “he said.
“It makes your estate even better if you walk through everyone twice.”
A reporter followed by asking: “Do you think that fight will happen before the Cory Sandhagen -Vecht?”
“No, I just say,” White apparently replied that he intends to make Dvalishvili vs Sandhagen then.