Merab Dvalishvili Open to Super Fight With Fellow UFC Champion
Merab Dvalishvili Open to Super Fight With Fellow UFC Champion originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
Merab Dvalishvili successfully defended the bantamweight title for the second time on Saturday night.
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It was a rematch against former champion Sean O'Malley, but Dvalishvili proved he's still improving. The Georgian did well mixing up his attacks, landing punches during wild exchanges with O'Malley, however it was once again his relentless work rate that wore out his opponent.
He submitted a tired 'Suga' at the end of the third round with a nasty choke, earning his second career finish inside of the octagon and first since 2021 against Marlon Moraes.
Dvalishvili is likely to take on No. four ranked Cory Sandhagen later this year. If he wins, it would be his 14th straight victory, putting him in rare air with Jon Jones (19), Anderson Silva (16), Islam Makhachev (15), and Kamaru Usman (15).
Today he was asked by combat sports reporter Ariel Helwani about a potential super fight with UFC Flyweight Champion Alexandre Pantoja and is on board with the potential bout.
'Yes, if he will move up in my weight class and if the UFC is interested in that, no problem,' Dvalishvili said. 'I'm sure a lot of people will be interested in this fight. I respect Pantoja. He will be a tough opponent for me. If Pantoja wants this and if the UFC wants this, I have no problem with that."
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Pantoja has cleaned out the flyweight division in a similar way to Dvalishvili as the Brazilian has won seven in a row. He's scheduled to take on Kai Kara-France later this month at UFC 317, but with another defense, it could be time for him to try becoming a champion in two weight classes.
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 9, 2025, where it first appeared.
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