In Merab Dvalishvili’s first introduction to Dana White, he immediately showed the UFC boss his eccentric and hilarious personality.
On June 7 at UFC 316, Merab Dvalishvili will defend his bantamweight title for a second time when he rematches Sean O’Malley in Newark, New Jersey.
Dvalishvili worried the UFC fanbase recently when he posted images online of his training camp, sharing images of him with a brutal cut on his eye.
Ahead of their matchup, O’Malley has been accused of benefitting from Dana White privilege, considering the fact that he hasn’t fought since losing the title to ‘The Machine’ at UFC 306.
Merab Dvalishvili danced for Dana White after earning UFC contract
Before joining the premier promotion, the Georgian bantamweight was making a name for himself on the regional scene.
After putting together a string of impressive wins, Dvalishvili was offered a vacant bantamweight title shot at Ring of Combat 58, against Suhrob Aidarbekov.
‘The Machine’ went on to win the fight with an armbar in the second round, further getting his name out there.
He was then matched up against Raufeon Stots just a few months later at Ring of Combat 59 and the fight came with even higher stakes attached to it.
UFC boss Dana White flew out specifically to watch Stots compete after catching wind of his skills and potential in the sport, filming an episode of Dana White Lookin for a Fight.
Despite that, Matt Serra, who films the episodes with White, was part of Dvalishvili’s team and told the UFC boss to look out for him.
Just 15 seconds into their fight, Dvalishvili landed a huge spinning back fist, knocking Stots out in shocking fashion.
After the event, White made his way backstage and told Dvalishvili he was going to bring him into the UFC, which resulted in the Georgian breaking out into dance in front of the UFC boss.
Dvalishvili and Dana White’s relationship has been questionable since
Since then, White has been critical of Dvalishvili on several occasions, especially when he and Aljamain Sterling refused to fight each other when Sterling was the UFC bantamweight champion.
As well as that, White labeled Merab ‘dumb’ last year when the UFC bantamweight champion posted images online of a huge cut he sustained in training, weeks out from his UFC 306 fight against O’Malley.
Dvalishvili then left the UFC boss seething when he proceeded to remove his own stitches with what seemed to be garden shears.
Their relationship has seemingly improved since then with Dvalishvili being one of the more reliable UFC champions.