Merab Dvalishvili is preparing to defend his UFC Bantamweight title at UFC 316, which is a world away from a tough start in his MMA career.
The Georgian fighter is preparing for a rematch against Sean O’Malley in New Jersey on June 7.
Merab Dvalishvili beat O’Malley in September to become UFC Bantamweight champion and will hope to keep hold of it in the main event of UFC 316.
O’Malley will know what to do to beat Dvalishvili and could take inspiration from the champion’s two defeats at the start of his MMA career.
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Merab Dvalishvili lost to Darren Mima and Ricky Bandejas in 2 early MMA fights
Given how impressive he’s been in the UFC in the past few years, it is hard to believe that Dvalishvili’s career in MMA began with two defeats.
“The Machine” started his MMA career in 2014 in the Ring of Combat promotion. He debuted at ROC 47, taking on American fighter Darren Mima in a three-round fight in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
He gave it his all, but came up short in the fight. Despite rocking Mima with a big right hand in the first round, the judges awarded Mima the majority decision victory to kick off Dvalishvili’s career with a defeat.
While he bounced back with a victory over Dennis Dombrow at ROC 49, he would once again taste defeat when he made his CFFC debut in November 2014.
It was here where “The Machine” took on a fellow rising star in Ricky Bandejas, also in the third fight of his career. Bandejas would go on to fight in Bellator in his decade-long career in the octagon, but he never matched the success Dvalishvili had.
However, none of that mattered in their sole bout together at CFFC 43. The pair had a back-and-forth encounter, although Bandejas proved his superior grappling skills throughout the bout.
He managed to mount Dvalishvili’s back at one point in the fight, but the Georgian impressively escaped the hold and went the distance against his American opponent.
They lasted the 15-minute fight, but the judges couldn’t look past Bandejas, awarding him the unanimous decision victory to heap more misery on Dvalishvili at the start of his career.
Merab Dvalishvili bounced back to become a UFC world champion a decade later
Despite those big upset defeats, Dvalishvili carried on training hard to achieve his dream of becoming a world champion in MMA.
He picked himself up to go on a six-fight winning streak, winning the ROC title in the process to earn himself a chance to fight in the UFC for the first time in 2017.
Dvalishvili debuted in UFC at UFC Fight Night 123, losing to Frankie Saenz on the preliminary card by a split decision. He followed this up with a submission defeat to Ricky Simon the following April, once again starting his run off on a low point.
That would be the end of Dvalishvili losing fights. After those losses, he gained valuable experience to raise his fight IQ, while utilizing his elite conditioning to outwork his opponents with relentless wrestling pressure, earning him the nickname “The Machine”.
This culminated in Dvalishvili’s UFC Bantamweight championship victory over O’Malley at UFC 306, which the pair will be running back at UFC 316.
He managed a unanimous decision win over Umar Nurmagomedov between these fights, kicking off his title reign in dominant fashion.