Georgian sensation Merab Dvalishvili is preparing for the first defense of his bantamweight title, arriving in just a few weeks at UFC 311 in Los Angeles.
This week, 'The Machine' took a quick break from training to chat with veteran UFC coach Eric Nicksick; revealing that he once beat up Hollywood actor Kevin James without knowing who the silver screen star was.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Merab Dvalishvili recaps how he beat up a Hollywood actor during sparring
At Ray Longo's MMA gym in New York, UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili has been able to train with some of the best MMA fighters in the world and, as it turns out, even a Hollywood superstar or two.
On Nicksick's 'Verse Us' podcast, Dvalishvili hilariously recreated the time he famously beat up actor Kevin James, star of the MMA film 'Here Comes the Boom', after mistaking the actor for a retired wrestler.
“It was summer and Chris Weidman created a texting group. He said, 'Okay guys, let's train in our professional groups tomorrow morning,' so I go – maybe there were eight guys; Al Iaquinta, Aljamain Sterling, James Gonzales, Chris Weidman – and there's a little fat man.
“We're all pros, so I saw this guy and in my head I was like, 'Is this guy a former fighter, maybe an older wrestler?' – [because] only us professional guys were invited.”
This training reportedly took place in 2018, six years after Here Comes the Boom came out, although according to Dvalishvili, James was still in good shape and took the training quite seriously.
“Anyway, we've done a warm-up, some training, but now we've got gloves and shin guards and we're going to spar – and everyone gets their training partner, and I've got Kevin James; He looked familiar, but I had no idea [who he was].
“So we're sparring in the cage and he throws heavy, hard [shots] and then, if I tried anything, he would hit heavily there. I can see him trying to fight.”
As Nicknick and co-host Randy Faehnrich burst into laughter, Dvalishvili reportedly admitted that since James came in at a “hard pace,” the Hollywood actor had to teach an equally hard lesson.
'He knows [how to fight]he is no longer as he was at the beginning [of training]he has a heavy pace and then I have to go fast [too]move around, chop the leg and punch and shoot [takedowns]… I had to do my best because he is bigger than me and stronger than me.
“I did my best to hopefully tire him out and break him – I really tried my best, I remember – and after that, I don't know what Kevin James said to Chris Weidman, but Chris started laughing like 'Merab, you know not who. this is?!” – I had no idea.”
Over the past two years, Dvalishvili's personality has come to the fore in a fantastic way, with his comedy sketches on social media even rivaling those of featherweight Alexander Volkanovski.
But there will be no more joking about it on January 18, when Dvalishvili steps back into the octagon to defend his bantamweight title against undefeated contender Umar Nurmagomedov.
UFC 311 airs live from LA on Saturday, January 18.
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