Merab Dvalishvili says he wouldn’t move up to 145 lbs to fight Ilia Topuria, and says Ilia “destroys” him in sparring
He also says he could potentially move down to flyweight, but doubts he’ll ever challenge for a feathweight belt
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Merab Dvalishvili has no plans of moving up to featherweight to challenge Ilia Topuria for the 145-pound title.
Dvalishvili gets his long-awaited gold bid at bantamweight against Sean O’Malley in the main event at UFC 306 on Saturday at the Sphere in Las Vegas. “The Machine” will get a chance to become the second Georgian to win a UFC title after Topuria, who knocked out Alexander Volkanovski to be crowned featherweight champ at UFC 298 this past February.
O’Malley has consistently been plotting a move up to featherweight to challenge Topuria for the title if he gets past Dvalishvili on Saturday. However, Dvalishvili is comfortable in his current weight class and has no such aspirations.
Speaking of a potential move up, Dvalishvili absolutely shut down the idea of fighting his good friend. While Topuria is six years younger than the 33-year-old Dvalishvili, “The Machine” likes him due to his intelligence and good nature. Dvalishvili also admits to being humbled by “El Matador” when they sparred.
UFC 306: O’Malley vs. Dvalishvili Saturday at 10 ET on ESPN+. Order Now!
While Dvalishvili isn’t opposed to idea of a move up to featherweight for a few fights, he doubts he is ready for top-tier competition at 145 pounds. The bantamweight contender would rather consider moving down to flyweight in the future with a strict diet.
“Never. I will never fight Ilia,” Dvalishvili said on the Pound 4 Pound podcast. “Firstly, he’s my brother. I really love him. He’s really younger than me but he is smart and very good guy. Family guy and a good friend of mine. Will never fight him. I did sparring with him and he destroy me. He’s stronger than me. I’m not afraid to fight but Ilia is my friend, Georgian, and I will never fight him. And I’m very comfortable in my weight class here at 135 [pounds]. I don’t think I will go up and fight for the belt. It’s not gonna happen. I can go fight some matchups, yes, I will. But to fight against like [Alexander] Volkanovski, Max Holloway, I’m not confident yet. Maybe someday if I started diet, I can even go down 125 .”
Topuria is set to defend his title against former champ Max Holloway in the main event at UFC 308 on Oct. 26 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Dvalishvili is riding a 10-fight winning streak, the longest in UFC bantamweight history, with wins over the likes of Henry Cejudo, Petr Yan and Jose Aldo.
