Merab "The Machine" Dvalishvili extended his winning streak to five this weekend, defeating John Dodson in a dominant decision win. The Georgian fighter is gathering traction and turning the heads of UFC fans with his displays and charisma. Here we are going to take a look at why the Bantamweight division should watch his rise with extreme interest and caution.
It's no revelation that Merab's cardio is off the charts. His ability to hold a ridiculous pace and go full-speed from bell to bell takes it's toll on his opponents. From the first minute "The Machine", adequately named, pushes forward with unorthodox strikes and relentless wrestling. Though we haven't seen him go five rounds in the cage as of yet, I have no doubt that the gas-tank would hold up.
In his fight with John Dodson at UFC 252, Dvalishvili put a pace on his 35-year-old opponent, which he simply could not deal with. Even late on in the third, Merab was pushing the pace and keeping the pressure on, talking to Dodson after each strike landed. Regardless of any skills being involved, the cardio alone is enough to cause even those at the top of the division problems.
So, put that cardio together with a world class wrestling game and you've got yourself one hell of a prospect on the rise. Looking at the current bantamweight top five, even the champion Petr Yan, there are few that I think have the ability to match Dvalishvili in the wrestling department. Now I'm not saying that he's at that level right now, but you have to take into consideration how dominant wrestling has been in MMA recently.
In his fight with Gustavo Lopez at UFC on ESPN 10, Merab landed an astounding 13 take downs in 15 minutes of action. His ability to close the distance and implement his wrestling is something that I believe is currently missing in the top 10 ranked fighters.
Then there is his striking. I always say that wrestling ties in with stand-up, if you can get your opponent to worry about the clinch or take down, they will leave openings to implement your striking game. The #15 ranked Bantamweight throws a plethora of different strikes and at a crazy high-level pace. Merab is landing nearly four significant strikes per fight, and has out struck his last 5 opponents 303-126.
After his win against Dodson, Dvalishvili took to the mic and called out the rising star O'Malley. I personally think that would be an amazing fight, and would truly show who's for real out of the two young bantamweights.
After seeing the likes of Edmen Shahbazyan and Sean O'Malley fall victim to the hype train over the past few weeks, Merab Dvalishvili has emerged as the true prospect to watch out for.
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