‘Good Friend’ Merab Dvalishvili Won’t Spar ‘Body-Blasting’ P4P King Ilia Topuria Anymore

Merab Dvalishvili no longer spars with his fellow Georgian, Ilia Topuria, after the UFC 317 star and P4P King dropped him twice.

‘Good Friend’ Merab Dvalishvili Won’t Spar ‘Body-Blasting’ P4P King Ilia Topuria Anymore

Merab Dvalishvili admits he won’t spar with Ilia Topuria anymore due to power disparity (Source: X)

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After their statement wins this month, UFC champs Merab Dvalishvili and Ilia Topuria are MMA’s current hot sauce. After all, the sport has never seen two fighters from the nation of Georgia dominate the rest of the competition ever before. Dvalishvili stopped Sean O’Malley in their 135-pound PPV title rematch at UFC 316. Ilia Topuria snagged the vacant 155-pound gold at UFC 317 just weeks later.

The Georgian “Machine” even met up with Ilia Topuria and his family backstage, after the win and his media interviews, ahead of going back to the lockers. Merab Dvalishvili and Topuria have a unique, long-standing bond from even before working their way up to title contention.

With the lightweight champion’s brother, Aleksandre Topuria, aiming to become a 135-pound contender, Dvalishvili was even willing to relinquish the stakes for his championship gold. However, even though they have trained in collaboration over the years, the UFC bantamweight champion half-jokingly said he’d avoid sparring Ilia Topuria again.

I spar with him, he has great wrestling, great jiu-jitsu, we all know that, He’s so organized. Ilia, he sees things before, he works for it, and he has plans…No [we didn’t spar] last week…I can’t spar with him anymore, he hits hard. He dropped me two times from the body shot. [Laughs]…Thank God, my head is fine! Every time I finish sparring with him, I was happy, like thank God.

Merab Dvalisvili on “The Ariel Helwani Show” for ‘Uncrowned’ Combat

Given Topuria’s transition to a full-time 155-pound hydration, it is reasonable that a sparring encounter between the duo would likely culminate in a unfavorable outcome. But Dvalishvili has showcased the ability to take big shots throughout his tenure. This was especially true in wins over acute striker O’Malley and former title challenger Marlon Moraes.

Ilia Topuria, now a successor to the old guard, has also overtaken as the pound-for-pound king; something that Merab Dvalishvili more than supports. Former longtime reigning 155-pound champ Islam Makachev held that #1 pot for some 600+ days, in total. Now, Topuria has taken over.

But it’s a good day both for even if they spar together or not. As of this writing, two UFC world titleholders are claimed by Georgia. In contrast, the United States currently has only one UFC titleholder: women’s bantamweight champion Kayla Harrison. The sport is looking unrecognizable at the moment, and this will likely be the norm moving forward as well.

Ilia Topuria ‘welcomed’ to the 170-pound ranks by a former UFC champ

When asked recently about the possibility of pursuing a third UFC title at 170-pounds, Topuria raised skepticism and quite a few brows. ‘El Matador’ has repeatedly teased fighting at welterweight at some point in his career, and it wasn’t just Merab Dvalishvili feeling his power; even peers have presented his buff natural hydration and bone density like a competition 170-pounder matches the deeds.

Big name Ilia Topuria welcomed to 170lbs by adversary
Big name Ilia Topuria welcomed to 170lbs by adversary (Source: X)

But at UFC 317 PPV, Ilia Topuria seemingly made a promise to the UFC matchmaker Mick Maynard that he wouldn’t immediately move to another division and leave the top order in a mayhem. Nevertheless, it hasn’t stopped Topuria about how he’d fare at welterweight.

More so as Ilia Topuria himself chased a Makhachev PPV title super booking and skills test and teased if need be, he might one day go further north to chase it. Now, new UFC pound-for-pound king, “El Matador” has a willing peer and top name supporting his move up, even though they’re all Team Makhachev.

Is Topuria underrated or overrated? …I think he’s rated [just about] right, [Like] See: Can Topuria compete at 170? He showed that his power translated, went up and he still had the power in his hands. I know Oliveira is not the perfect testing tool at 155, seeing as he’s gotten dropped by Gaethje, Chandler, Poirier, he’s gotten hurt a lot, …but he’s always came back. I really want to see him go against another guy at 155 who has shown that they have a chin, that they’ve never been dropped.

Belal Muhammad on his Official YT Channel

A three-division champion has never been produced by the UFC in the promotion’s illustrious career, whether male or female. If Topuria aspires to distinguish himself in the UFC GOAT discourse, a transition to 170 pounds may ensue in the near future.

Former champ Belal Muhammad agrees that size difference matter between competition 155-pounder and those at 170, but he also sees that Topuria could bring much of his power to effect at the weight class.

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