5 Defining Moments: Merab Dvalishvili

Merab Dvalishvili finds himself on the brink of title contention in the Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight division.

The 32-year-old Serra-Longo Fight Team standout will toe the line against former champion Petr Yan in the UFC Fight Night 221 main event on Saturday inside The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas. A title shot likely awaits the victor. Dvalishvili enters the Octagon on the strength of an eight-fight winning streak. He owns an 8-2 record as a member of the UFC roster, his resume buoyed by victories over Cody Stamann, Casey Kenney and Brad Katona, among others.

As Dvalishvili makes final preparations for his forthcoming battle with Yan, a look at five of the many moments that have come to define him:

1. Lightning Strike

Dvalishvili retained the Ring of Combat bantamweight championship and did so in spectacular fashion when he wiped out Raufeon Stots in the first round of the ROC 59 headliner on June 2, 2017 at the Tropicana Casino and Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Stots checked out just 15 seconds into Round 1. After the two men touched gloves, Dvalishvili pawed with a jab and then followed an attempted head kicks with a perfectly times spinning backfist. Stots melted where he stood and was met a few follow-up shots before referee Vitor Ribeiro could arrive on the scene. It remains the only first-round finish on the Dvalishvili resume and served as his springboard to the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

2. Slow Start

Thudding knee strikes to the body, standing elbows from the clinch and opportunistic punching combinations carried Frankie Saenz to a split decision over Dvalishvili in a UFC Fight Night 123 bantamweight prelim on Dec. 9, 2017 at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California. All three cageside judges struck 29-28 scorecards, two of them for Saenz. Dvalishvili executed repeated takedowns but could not force his counterpart to break character. Saenz’s ability to maintain his composure proved invaluable against the Octagon newcomer. Bleeding from two head butt-induced cuts, Dvalishvili dragged the former King of the Cage champion to the mat over and over again but failed to consolidate his efforts with damage or meaningful positional control. Saenz made the most of his chances on the feet, employing knees to the body across all three rounds. Dvalishvili could not mount a telling response.

3. Variety Show

A suffocating clinch, a few takedowns and surprisingly effective standup spurred Dvalishvili to a unanimous decision over “The Ultimate Fighter 14” winner John Dodson in a three-round UFC 252 bantamweight showcase on Aug. 15, 2020 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. All three judges scored it 30-27. Dodson could not match the Serra-Longo Fight Team standout’s pace or persistence. Dvalishvili—who entered the cage on the heels of back-to-back defeats—moved forward with relentless purpose, trapped his counterpart along the fence and hammered his thighs with knee strikes. The Georgian connected with a spinning backfist and right hook in the second round, troubled Dodson with takedown attempts and maintained control of the narrative through the entirety of their 15-minute encounter.

4. Staging a Rally

Dvalishvili staged a remarkable comeback and climbed another rung on the Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight ladder when he put away former World Series of Fighting titleholder Marlon Moraes with punches in the second round of their featured UFC 266 prelim on Sept. 25, 2021 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The end came 4:25 into Round 2. Moraes slammed kicks into the former Ring of Combat champion’s lower leg, ripped combinations to the head and connected with a crippling left hook in the first round. He swooped in for a potential finish on the Georgian but emptied his gas tank and conceded a takedown. The indomitable Dvalishvili cleared his head and chipped away with hammerfist-laden ground-and-pound, increasing the intensity of his strikes with each passing second. By the end of the period, Moraes was teetering on the brink; and the one-minute intermission did not afford him enough time to recover. Dvalishvili followed a right hand into a takedown in the middle stanza, worked punches to the body and eventually trapped the Brazilian in a kneeling position. Punches continued to fly until referee Keith Peterson had seen enough.

5. Rising to the Moment

Serra-Longo Fight Team’s Dvalishvili nailed down his most significant win to date when he outstruck and outhustled the great Jose Aldo to a unanimous decision in their featured UFC 278 attraction on Aug. 20, 2022 at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City. Scores were 29-28, 30-27 and 29-28. Aldo managed to avoid all 16 takedowns, but the Georgian’s tenacity and his commitment to the gameplan allowed him to crowd and frustrate the former champion across three rounds. Dvalishvili found another gear in the middle stanza, turned up the heat and got the job done. By the time it was over, he had built a 135-59 advantage in total strikes and piled up more than five minutes of control time. Suddenly, the UFC had another real-deal contender on its hands at 135 pounds.