Fresh from his sensational victory over Umar Nurmagomedov on UFC 311, Merab 'The Machine' Dvalishvili loves life as the Bantamweight King.
While the Georgian demolition ball is satisfied with his status as undisputed UFC champion, that does not mean that he ignores the next generation of standing up in his division.
In fact, Merab Dvalishvili has now revealed that if a certain UFC newcomer makes his way in the title photo, he will leave his Bantam weight championship in favor of another challenge.
Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC
Merab Dvalishvili says he will leave the Bantamweight title for one UFC newcomer
'The Machine' has explained that the plan is to leave its UFC Riem as Aleksandre Topuria, brother of Vederweight Champion Ilia Topuria, enters the title of Bantamweight.
“In my opinion he will also become a champion,” said Dvalishhvili during a recent press conference, as reported by Europop Georgia earlier this week.
“So far he brought his career on a break because of Ilia, but now he is in the UFC and shows what he can do. Before there were no other Georgians in Las Vegas, [but] Now there are some of us at Syndicate MMA … Although we are not sparing together, we still do great things together. “
Aleksandre Topuria is currently 6-1 as a professional and 1-0 under the UFC banner, after he had scored a unanimous decision on Colby Dicknesse on UFC 312 in Australia.
“Aleksandre has his own path,” Dvalishvili continued and stated that it should take “at least two years” for the older Topuria brother to reach the top echelon of the division.
“I said before that if Aleksandre becomes a competition, I will give up the belt. Or I will go up, or I will go down, or I will have super fights. We will dissolve it amly. And in general this is a good problem. '
Merab Dvalishvili is not the only one who expects the fresh Aleksandre Topuria to be accompanied by him and his brother as UFC champion.
Response to the successful UFC debut of Aleksandre Topuria was mixed
Although he was successful in his UFC debut earlier this month, the reaction of the MMA community was certainly mixed because many fans expressed disappointment in the lack of finishing potential of Aleksandre Topuria.
“Biggest favorite on the map and moisture with zero intensity,” wrote former double champion Henry Cejudo, and added “not too impressed by Aleksandre Topuria in his debut.”
Former UFC hunter became analyst Josh Thomson, noted that it will be interesting to see if Aleksandre Topuria can handle the pressure that comes with constant comparisons with his champion brother.
“He is going to be a lot compared to his brother, which is fair because they are clearly brothers, but the way his fighting style is, I don't know if I just want to know how it will influence him, you understand what do I say?
“I hope he has thick skin because the comparison will happen quickly, if it is not already the time this media will come out tomorrow … [His style] Looks on each other, but they are different hunters. Different fighters, but that's a good thing, it's just a matter of [whether] He can separate himself. “
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