Merab Dvalishvili compared how Nina Drama was feeling while being taken down to a two-weight UFC champion he defeated en route to his world title.
The bantamweight champion is preparing for his second defense of his UFC title against former champion Sean O’Malley at UFC 316 next weekend. During preparations, O’Malley has pulled out all the stops including training with legends and giving up on social media and other vices.
Dvalishvili, on the other hand, has had a difficult camp with broken toes and other issues including a struggle for motivation. However, he looked in great form as he invited influencer Nina Drama into the gym for a filming session.
- Who is Merab Dvalishvili? Meet the second-ever Georgian UFC Champion
Merab Dvalishvili compares Henry Cejudo and Nina Drama in comical gym video
In a new video posted to Nina Drama’s YouTube channel, the controversial influencer came to visit Merab Dvalishvili in the gym. She went through a ‘sparring session’, which included a moment where he dropped her on her head.
He was showing off the technique he used to carry Henry Cejudo across the octagon in front of Mark Zuckerberg back at UFC 298. And when he asked the social media star how she felt, he managed to somehow compare the two.
“She got scared,” Dvalishvili noted, before asking her how she felt when she was up on his shoulder. When she replied that she was ‘terrified’, he jokingly answered “That’s how Henry Cejudo was feeling when I was holding him.”
Merab Dvalishvili is struggling for motivation at UFC 316
Despite O’Malley’s protestations, there is a general belief that not only did Dvalishvili win at UFC 306, but he did so decisively on the night. As a result, the appetite for a rematch without the former champion earning it with another win is limited.
Even the champion feels this, telling Michael Bisping on the BYM podcast during the week that finding full motivation is proving difficult. “In my professional career this is my first rematch,” Dvalishvili said. “In Georgia I was fighting pro rules but those fights are not on my official record.
“So I had a rematch before at the beginning of my career. And that doesn’t count because I was so new to the game. Now, it’s the first rematch of my professional career. To be honest with you, I already beat him and it’s hard to get 100 per cent motivated, you know?”