“Grateful to call him brother”- Merab Dvalishvili reacts to Aljamain Sterling’s decision to move up weight classes to avoid a fight against him
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Aljamain Sterling & Merab Dvalishvili
Merab Dvalishvili talks about Sterling moving up! Aljamain has loads of options now after he settled his score with Petr Yan in his last bout. Merab Dvalishvili could be his potential next opponent.
Despite the fact that he hasn’t fought in 2022, he did have two fights in 2021. Dvalishvili had a solid year overall, despite some Covid-related issues early in the year and the subsequent postponing of his fight against Cody Stamann. His bout against Stamann was finally staged on May 1 after two reschedules, and Dvalishvili won by unanimous decision. On September 25, Dvalishvili defeated Marlon Moraes, a former title challenger, via technical knockout.
Merab’s last fight was against Marlon Moraes. In his battle against Marlon Moraes, he came close to being knocked out before staging a comeback and winning in the preliminary event of Saturday’s UFC 266.
Dvalishvili got aggressive early in the second round, dumping Moraes and gaining top control. From there, the Georgian fighter unleashed a barrage of ground attacks. Moraes was unable to get back to his feet and defend himself from many of the shots that were directed at him. The referee had had enough and stopped the fight.
“We’ll figure it out”- Aljamain Sterling says he’ll ‘probably have to move up a division with Merab Dvalishvili’s next win
When asked about a possible fight with his old partner on Twitter, Sterling said he’d rather move up in weight than instigate a fight. In one of the most bitter divisions in the NBA in recent years, the two have been brothers in arms, and Sterling isn’t going to stand in the way of the Georgian’s chance at glory.
He stated on Twitter, “After Merab’s next win, I will probably have to move up, to allow him his chance that he earned, to make history for Georgia to win a world title. We will figure it out.” To which Merab responded, “I learn from him every day. I am grateful to call him brother!”
Since 2017, the 32-year-old “Funk Master” has not lost a fight. He won the UFC bantamweight title in a contentious manner, winning by DQ after Petr Yan connected with an illegal knee that rendered him unable to continue at UFC 259 last year. However, Sterling won the rematch between the two fighters, winning a split decision at UFC 273 to put the subject to rest.
Merab Dvalishvili is currently ranked #6 in the UFC’s bantamweight division. He, like Sterling, does not have a bout booked right now.
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Harddit Bedi
(344 Articles Published)