Old footage of Merab Dvalishvili competing in a Golden Gloves Boxing tournament has resurfaced online – and it’s safe to say that ‘The Machine’ has always been cardio king.
Reigning UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili might be a global MMA superstar today – but there was once a time when ‘The Machine’ was competing in an entirely different combat sports arena.
And we’re not talking about Combat Sambo either, with footage of Dvalishvili in the boxing ring having now resurfaced online after a ‘mad hatter’ admission from his veteran coach, Ray Longo.
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Footage of Merab Dvalishvili in Golden Gloves Boxing resurfaces online
After moving to the United States from Georgia at 21 years old, Merab Dvalishvili found himself competing in amateur boxing – specifically, he fought several times under the Golden Gloves banner out in New York City.
Footage from one of those boxing fights in 2013 has now resurfaced online, showing Dvalishvili walking through hundreds of head strikes to out-hustle and out-point opponent Daquan Henry – he’s clearly not changed one bit.
During a recent appearance on the Anik and Florian Podcast, head coach Ray Longo would describe his champion pupil as such a ‘mad hatter’ in the boxing ring that Golden Gloves had to change their ruleset to keep him from fighting.
“When Merab first came here, he got into a boxing gym, it was not a good gym, but they threw him into Golden Gloves because he wanted to fight… Because of that, the Golden Gloves changed the rules. They threw him out of the tournament, I think because he was such a mad hatter.”
Dvalishvili was also featured in an article from New York Daily News that same year, where it was revealed that he was fighting with the nickname ‘The Tornado’ – rather than his current UFC moniker of ‘The Machine’.
“Merab Dvalishvili brings no grace to the ring, only pain,” said journalist Stephen Lorenzo at the time: “Dvalishvili, affectionately called Tornado by Kayo BC, never stopped whirling.
“An overjoyed Dvalishvili had no use for stairs after his victory, leaping from the canvas to the gym floor in search of his friends. ‘Next time I’ll be even better,’ Dvalishvili said through a translator, ‘I can punch 100 times in a round, no problem. I have no fear of being tired.’”
Coach Ray Longo sees this particular quote as evidence that Dvalishvili’s legendary cardio extends far beyond the octagon: “If people think this is a new thing, this has been going on forever.
“This is before I knew him; he made that statement. So, that part of the game, that mental side or that cardio side, was always there. How crazy is that? From 12 or 14 years ago.”
Merab Dvalishvili outlines plan to vacate UFC title for one specific newcomer
As Dvalishvili waits for his next title challenger to emerge, ‘The Machine’ has now revealed what it would take (or rather, who it would take) for him to vacate his UFC bantamweight belt and move to 145lbs.
Speaking via Europop Georgia earlier this week, the Georgian wrecking ball teased that he’ll exit the bantamweight scene once Aleksandre Topuria – brother of featherweight champion Ilia Topuria – works his way into title contention.
“In my opinion, he will also become a champion, until now, he put his career on pause because of Ilia, but now he is in the UFC and showing what he can do… Aleksandre has his own path [to follow].
“I have said before that if Aleksandre becomes a contender, I will give up the belt. Either I will move up, or I will move down, or I will have super fights. We will resolve it amicably – and in general, this is a good problem [to have].”
Aleksandre Topuria was successful in his UFC debut earlier this month and is currently 6-1 as a professional MMA fighter with three wins coming via KO/TKO, two via submission and one via the judges’ scorecards.
At the time of writing, Merab Dvalishvili is ranked #5 on the UFC pound-for-pound list, just one spot below his countryman Ilia ‘El Matador’ Topuria at #4.