Merab Dvalishvili has just about cleared out the bantamweight division, but he’s more interested in going for a victory lap than becoming a “champ-champ.”
The Georgian star recorded his third straight successful defense of his 135-pound title on Saturday, winning a unanimous decision over Cory Sandhagen in the UFC 320 co-main event. It was Dvalishvili’s 14th consecutive win overall, a stretch that includes victories against much of the current contender line.
So why isn’t Dvalishvili considering a featherweight move and potential superfight with Alexander Volkanovski?
“This is my division,” Dvalishvili said at the evening’s post-fight press conference. “I’m comfortable here. I don’t want to try and go up and make a mess because I don’t want to be without an invite. Like if somebody shows up at [Aljamain Sterling’s] wedding tomorrow, I would crush his face in, we would be mad. … I’m comfortable here. I want to be my division’s champion.
“I have respect for all these guys, especially my brother Aljamain Sterling, Volkanovski, I don’t want to fight these guys. I’m good here. I don’t know, we’ll see. So far, I have next plan to fight Petr Yan.”
Dvalishvili waited his turn to step into the bantamweight championship picture when Sterling held that title from 2021-2023 and he prefers to avoid that potential conflict of interest again. Besides, as far as he’s concerned, he still has a long way to go to establish his legacy at 135 pounds.
Even hearing that UFC CEO Dana White referred to him as the greatest bantamweight of all-time hasn’t changed Dvalishvili’s plans or perspective.
“Of course, it’s nice to hear from the boss,” Dvalishvili said. “I appreciate him, even if maybe I don’t agree with that. I mean, I’m not sure about that. But Dana White says these kinds of words to me, it means a lot and I’m grateful for UFC and for Dana White, of course, the job they’re doing and all the opportunities I’m given by UFC, I’m grateful for that. I’m thankful.”
Asked what he thinks he has to do to claim undisputed GOAT status in his division, Dvalishili isn’t sure, but he likes the idea of at least being in that conversation when his career is over.
“I have two older brothers,” Dvalishvili said. “My second brother, he was a pilot 17 years in Georgian army, one of the helicopters. They have an expression like this: ‘You don’t say I’m a pilot until you retire and you’re sitting with your grandkids and you talk about it after. Before, you keep landing.’
“So I’m a fighter. I’m never going to say I’m the GOAT. I’ll keep getting better, I’ll keep landing, I’ll keep grinding, because this is MMA. You have to be humble, otherwise you will get humbled if you get cocky. So I’m just trying to get better and maybe I will say that when, God willing, when I will sit with my grandkids, then maybe I will tell them, ‘You know what? One day I was GOAT.’ But now, I don’t consider myself the GOAT because I keep getting better. I’m still a student in this game.”
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