Merab Dvalishvili is set to defend his bantamweight title for the second time when the Octagon returns to Newark, New Jersey.
On June 7, Dvalishvili will look to correct the mistakes he made against Sean O’Malley the first time around to record an even more dominant performance.
Having already defended his belt once this year in a great clash with Umar Nurmagomedov, 2025 is set to be a big year for ‘The Machine’ if he can keep hold of his belt in a rematch with ‘Suga’.
A lot of people have been weighing in with their takes on the main event, including the last man to defeat Dvalishvili, who spoke about the keys to beating the Georgian.
The defending champion has now received a message of support from one of his closest allies on the roster, Ilia Topuria.
Ilia Topuria sends a message of support and encouragement to Merab Dvalishvili on social media
When Merab Dvalishvili defeated Sean O’Malley at UFC 306 to win the bantamweight title, he became the second Georgian fighter to hold UFC gold.
The first was Ilia Topuria who knocked out Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298 the very same year to become the featherweight champion.
Though ‘El Matador’ would go on to vacate the title after defending it once in order to move up to lightweight, both he and Dvalishvili brought incredible success back to their country, though Topuria also represents Spain which is where he currently lives.
Since his upcoming fight for the vacant lightweight belt was announced, the undefeated star has been somewhat quiet on social media aside from some brief videos of his preparations.
Topuria’s latest post on X showed him sending a message of support to Dvalishvili as the champion looks to produce another big win for Georgia on the big stage.
“The victory belongs to you, brother.”
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Ilia Topuria will look to claim another UFC belt for Georgia later this month
June could end up being a massive month for Georgian MMA fans with Merab Dvalishvili kicking the action off with his bantamweight title defense at UFC 316.
Later this month, Ilia Topuria will make his highly anticipated return as he steps foot inside the Octagon as a fully-fledged lightweight.
‘El Matador’ will face Charles Oliveira for the vacant 155 pound belt which was left behind by Islam Makhachev as the Russian looks to achieve success at welterweight.
Dvalishvili is sure to return the favor by showing his support for Topuria ahead of a massive title clash on International Fight Week.