Latest news with #Merab
Time of India
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili reveals his next possible opponent after facing former champ Sean O'Malley at UFC 316
As the day of UFC 316 is nearing, it is not just the fighters who are gearing up for their respective bouts, but also the fans who will be witnessing two title fights in the main card. While the hype surrounding the event is already high, ahead of the headline event between Bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili and Sean O'Malley, the Georgian fighter has recently named some of the greatest fighters with good cardio, both past and present. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now In the same interview, the fighter also reveals the next opponent he would like to face after UFC 316. Merab Dvalishvili lists out fighters with good cardio, claims George St-Pierre as his favorite fighter Merab Dvalishvili won the bantamweight belt at UFC 306 after defeating Sean O'Malley via a unanimous decision. It was Sean's second title defense after winning it against Aljamain Sterling and defending it once against Marlon Vera. Even though UFC 316 would be Suga's first appearance since losing the belt to Merab in September 2024, The Machine has defended his belt once against Umar Nurmagomedov. Merab and Sean are facing each other for the second time, and this has increased the hype of the headlining event. During a recent interview, the Georgian fighter revealed his plans within the Octagon after UFC 316, as well as ranked some of his favorite fighters who have good cardio. While speaking to Helen Yee, a sports reporter, the fighter claimed Georges St-Pierre as his favorite fighter, 'GSP is one of my favorite fighters, he has good cardio. Khabib has good cardio. Ilia Topuria has good cardio. Petr Yan, too.' The statement came after Merab was made aware of the fact that MMA fans have ranked him number one in the said category. Merab Dvalishvili REVEALS CRAZY Sparring Before First Sean O'Malley Fight, Looking For A Wife.. While the list was just a part of the interview, the fighter also revealed his next plans within the Octagon and the opponent he was looking out for after UFC 316, 'I think right now, Sandhagen is ready. We never fought each other… Maybe, I'm not sure. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Whatever the UFC will decide. Whatever UFC thinks the fresh guy and the most deserving guy is, I will fight.' Also read: Cory Sandhagen is ranked 4th in the bantamweight division with a pro-MMA record of 18-5-0. The fighter has won four of his last five bouts and is known for his knockout wins. Merab believes that after retaining the title, the Georgian fighter might be defending the belt against Sandhagen since Petr Yan will now be facing Marcus McGhee at UFC Abu Dhabi.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Mailbag: Did Merab Dvalishvili make a mistake revealing his toe injury ahead of UFC 316?
How concerned should we be about Merab Dvalishvili's toe injury ahead of the Sean O'Malley rematch at UFC 316? What upcoming fight should we protect at all costs? And what's the walkout song you never want to hear again? All that and more in this week's mailbag. To ask a question of your own, hit up @benfowlkesmma or @ @NeedXtoseePosts: With Merab posting a video of his injury (again) and continuing his videos, Is there a sillier little guy in the UFC? Advertisement A while back I asked Merab Dvalishvili about his approach to social media and the thing he seemed most adamant about was that he didn't want it to be the same boring crap that most fighters do on there. You've probably seen what he's talking about. It's all gym selfies or pictures of boringly nutritious dinners or half-hearted sponsor shoutouts. One day the fighter is posting pics of his training partners with some 'iron sharpens iron' caption. Then three weeks later, after he loses his fight, he's on there telling us how he suffered a punctured lung in sparring (but of course he's not making excuses). To be clear, Merab is also doing many of those same things on his Instagram. But he's also doing a fair amount of Just Messing Around. He has his little skits with the Sean O'Malley lookalike (who at this point is like a regular on a long-running sitcom, whether he likes it or not). He has stuff that is at least recognizable as attempts at humor. And when he hurts his toe on somebody's head, sure, he's going to tell us that in the most good-natured way possible. Advertisement I see it as Merab staying true to his own vision, which I respect. I also see it as some stuff I'd want to pay attention to if I'm O'Malley. If they end up in a clinch against the fence, you think that toe isn't getting stomped? I'd just about guarantee it. There is such a thing as being too open and accessible on social media, especially in this sport. @Kib_KC: Would you rather: Max wins an all-out war, or Dustin wins via gilly This is one fight where I'm firmly in the 'I just hope both teams have fun' camp. One of the reasons I like this booking so much is because we could conceivably be happy with a bunch of different outcomes. If Dustin Poirier wins (especially via his first career guillotine choke) and rides off into the sunset, awesome. If Max Holloway gets one back against a friendly rival he's been battling in the UFC since they were both fresh-faced kids, also cool. As long as we get a good fight with a clear conclusion, it'll be a success. Advertisement But if you force me to pick a side, I have to go with Poirier in this one. Seeing him exit the sport with a win in front of his home crowd would be a real feel-good moment. My only fear is that, sometimes when fighters win that retirement fight, it convinces them that they shouldn't be retiring after all. @jaypettry: If you were to wrap one currently scheduled fight in bubble wrap and guarantee it happens, which one would it be? Dricus du Plessis vs. Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 319. I would have chosen Ilia Topuria vs. Islam Makhachev if the UFC hadn't found a way to avoid giving fans what they actually want there. Instead I'll take this legitimately fascinating middleweight title fight, and for two main reasons. The first is that, style-wise, this feels pretty bonkers. Will "DDP" get to launch his awkwardly effective herky-jerky offense on yet another top 185-pounder? Or will Chimaev take him down and grind him into a fine paste before he can even get going? There are just so many weird ways for these fighters to mix up their styles and skills together, and I can't wait to see what it actually looks like. Advertisement The second reason is that, whether we want to admit it or not, du Plessis now stands on the precipice of middleweight greatness. If he wins this fight he'll have victories over almost everyone who's mattered at middleweight for the last five-plus years. He finished Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker. He beat Sean Strickland twice. He's undefeated in the UFC. Now he could add a win over the guy we've been hearing about as the heir apparent seemingly forever. I ask you honestly, is there a better middleweight run this side of Anderson Silva? "DDP" could cement his status as one of the all-time greats at 185 pounds here. And I don't think we're anywhere close to being emotionally prepared for that possibility. @grave_ko: After everything thats happened since Jon went to heavyweight and even disregarding personal issues, does the steroids and the ducking both Francis and Tom do enough to fully tarnish Jon Jones legacy that he can no longer be considered a GOAT candidate? Thanks guys. It's always tricky trying to have to legacy conversation while a fighter's career is … technically … kind of … sort of still going. Even right after somebody retires, we don't necessarily know for sure what the full picture might look like. We need some time and distance to assess these things. Advertisement Thing is, you can undercut almost any fighter's accomplishments if you really want to. Georges St-Pierre? He was a decision specialist who bailed on the division just when good fighters were starting to show up. Fedor Emelianenko? Fought nothing but tomato cans in an organization devoted to his continued success. Anderson Silva? Well, I have nothing right now but give me a few days and I'm sure I'll come up with something. Point is, even if you have a legit claim to GOAT status on paper, it doesn't guarantee people will give you full credit later on. This is especially true if you exit on a very sour note. Consider that there are probably plenty of 'pandemic fans' — people who only got into this sport when the UFC was one of the few shows going during the spring of 2020 — who don't get what the big deal is about Jon Jones. He's only won two fights since then, the last of which came against a semi-retired 42-year-old firefighter. If he retires without fighting Tom Aspinall, that will be one of the main things they remember about him. @PhotoAmy33: What's the walkout song you hope you never have to hear again? Advertisement 'Roar' by Katy Perry. No disrespect to Miesha Tate for choosing this, but what the hell. It's an assault on the eardrums by one of the most blandly vapid pop stars of the past two decades, and you think that's going to get a crowd fired up to see you fight? Honorable mention, since it's not technically a walkout song: That terrible dubstep remix of 'Hotel California' that the UFC's house DJ used to play at every event. There's a song where both concept and execution are an affront to humanity. People have been jailed for less. @johnwmerva: Has MMA really passed, or hit, its high water mark? It just seems that the UFC is in decline or putting in no effort, ONE is really a Muay Thai org and PFL/Bellator are out. Where's the sport actually going to go to now if no-one's really pushing its development? It's in a lull, but that doesn't mean it will stay there. If you look at the history of fight sports, from the bare-knuckle days of the London Prize Ring to now, you'll see that it always moves in waves. A popular or controversial fighter appears, drives interest, and then declines or departs. Fan interest waxes and wanes. It's how it always goes, and right now we appear to be in a waning phase. Advertisement The only thing that really worries me about it is that the UFC and its parent company are still raking in revenue despite the lull. They've done such a good job of, as TKO executive Ari Emanuel once put it, 'taking the lumpiness out of the business,' that the company still gets paid a ton of money even if no one is watching. So where's the incentive to really get fans excited, or to do a good job of building and promoting new stars? That's what I worry about. If the suits in the boardroom see that they can put this thing in cruise control and still bathe in cash, they don't have much reason to try harder.
USA Today
08-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Sean O'Malley relishing Merab Dvalishvili prep this time, says 'don't watch' if unhappy about rematch
Sean O'Malley is a lot more confident going into his second fight against UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili. O'Malley (18-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) rematches Dvalishvili (19-4 MMA, 12-2 UFC) on June 7 in the UFC 316 headliner at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. O'Malley lost his bantamweight title to Dvalishvili at UFC 306 by unanimous decision last September. O'Malley later revealed that he went into the fight with a torn labrum in his hip and underwent surgery after the fight to repair it. He said the injury hampered his ability to do any grappling in camp. 'This sounds like I'm exaggerating, and I'm not,' O'Malley said on 'The Ariel Helwani Show.' 'Just today, this morning practice that I had, I grappled more today than I grappled last fight camp for Merab. I know it sounds like – we did seven, six-minute rounds today, grappling hard, picking the hardest guys, just straight grappling today. I wasn't able to do that once last camp. That last camp was not a great camp. 'It was great for what I was able to do. … I felt as good as I could going into the fight. I know I could wrestle better than I showed in that last fight. That was borderline embarrassing what I was able to do against Merab. Merab's tough. Merab's good. Merab's probably considered the greatest bantamweight of all time as of right now. So I'm going to go out there, knock him out. What does that make me?' Don't like the rematch? 'Don't watch' O'Malley is well aware of the criticism surrounding the UFC's decision to give him an immediate rematch. He had a simple solution for those unhappy with the fight. 'Don't watch,' O'Malley said. 'Saturday night, June 7, f*cking watch your reality TV show. Don't watch the fight. I do (understand where they're coming from), 100 percent. That last fight, I don't think a lot of people went and truly rewatched it. It's not one of those fights that's super worth rewatching unless – I do think the second time watching it, it is a little bit closer than the first time you watched it live. 'But I don't think many people rewatched it, and they weren't interested in rewatching it. Their opinion is just going to kind of stay the same. But, again, if they're not interested, don't watch it. But when I go out there and win, I guarantee people are going rewatch it or at least rewatch the finish, if there's a finish. Might be a five-round decision, could be a finish, we'll see. At the end of the day, that Sunday rolls around, people are going to be talking about it.' For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie's event hub for UFC 316.
USA Today
26-02-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
NAC suspends Dennis Buzukja for UFC 310 crowd altercation: 'This is his one chance with us'
UFC fighter Dennis Buzukja has received punishment for an altercation during a December event at T-Mobile Arena. On Wednesday, the Nevada Athletic Commission suspended Buzukja (12-5 MMA, 1-3 UFC) nine month and fined him $2,500 with additional required legal fees of $157.04. However, Buzukja's suspension can be reduced to six months should he execute a community service plan approved by the commission, meaning he'd be eligible to compete again on June 6 rather than Sept. 6. Buzukja and representative Daniel Rubenstein of Ruby Sports & Entertainment presented the commission with a plan prior to Wednesday's hearing. Commissioner Alexander Chen outlined the plan, which would include 40 hours of community service at Big Brothers Big Sisters, Girls & Boys Club and/or Special Olympics. The commission voted to approve the proposed plan Wednesday and largely pointed to past precedent (Arman Tsarukyan swiping at a UFC 300 fan in April), but chairman Dallas Haun indicated the commission might change that precedent going forward. 'I don't go for this, someone taking a swing in the crowd,' Haun said. 'We can't have this. I know we have a precedent. The fact that he's on the phone and hasn't shown up, this is his one chance with us. Anything more like this, and he'll never be in Nevada again. Swinging in the crowd is unacceptable. We cannot have it. But we have a precedent, and the community service better be done rigorously with commitment.' '… Our No. 1 priority here is the safety of the fighters. Right behind that is the safety of the fans. I think going forward, while we've set precedent, I want to take a good, hard look if this happens again, the nine-month and the six-month and the community service. Luckily no one was hurt. Tragically someone may be hurt. I want the commission and executive director Mullen to review how we look at this thing going forward. We may set precedent aside. We can't have that.' Buzukja and teammate Merab Dvalishvili were both restrained during the altercation. The crowd member, Arman Tugaev, was later identified to be someone with connections to the Nurmagomedovs, who rivaled Dvalishvili ahead of their Jan. 11 title fight. Dvalishvili indicated Tugaev deliberately provoked the altercation and grabbed his arm before Buzukja threw punches. Merab got into ANOTHER altercation with a fan after Aljamain Sterling lost to Mosvar Evloev. 👀 #UFC310 — InsideFighting (@InsideFighting_) December 8, 2024 Days after the incident, Buzukja also commented on the altercation. 'I don't know if he had touched Merab as we were walking in, but somehow he got Merab's attention and then Merab went and tapped his shoulder and just gave him the finger, and then the guy gave him the finger back or whatever,' Buzujka said on 'The Weekly Scraps' podcast with Sterling. 'He got all jumpy. 'Then as the fight finished and we're walking back on the other side, this f*cking guy comes across the whole crowd and then goes and, you've seen the video, he grabs Merab's arm and then says something to him in, I guess Russian or whatever, and Merab started going crazy. Then we got into a little physical altercation, but that was really it. So hopefully no charges pressed and we move on.'
USA Today
28-01-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
NAC temporarily suspends Dennis Buzukja for UFC 310 altercation with crowd member
UFC fighter Dennis Buzukja is in hot water with the Nevada Athletic Commission stemming from an altercation between him and a crowd member at an event in December. During a monthly commission hearing Tuesday in Las Vegas, Buzukja (12-5 MMA, 1-3 UFC) was temporarily suspended for striking a crowd member on his way back to the locker room after cornering teammate Aljamain Sterling at UFC 310. A decision on the matter will be tabled for a future commission meeting with terms of resolution determined in the meantime. Buzukja and teammate Merab Dvalishvili were both restrained during the altercation. The crowd member, Arman Tugaev, was later identified to be someone with connections to the Nurmagomedovs, who rivaled Dvalishvili ahead of their Jan. 11 title fight. Dvalishvili indicated Tugaev deliberately provoked the altercation and grabbed his arm before Buzukja threw punches. Days after the incident, Buzukja also commented on the altercation. 'I don't know if he had touched Merab as we were walking in, but somehow he got Merab's attention and then Merab went and tapped his shoulder and just gave him the finger, and then the guy gave him the finger back or whatever,' Buzujka said on 'The Weekly Scraps' podcast with Sterling. 'He got all jumpy. 'Then as the fight finished and we're walking back on the other side, this f*cking guy comes across the whole crowd and then goes and, you've seen the video, he grabs Merab's arm and then says something to him in, I guess Russian or whatever, and Merab started going crazy. Then we got into a little physical altercation, but that was really it. So hopefully no charges pressed and we move on.'
