full name: Merab Dvalishvili 
fight name: The Machine
residence: Long Island, New York, United States
height: 5’6″
weight division: bantamweight
current promotion: UFC
pro MMA record: 16-4

Merab Dvalishvili is a Georgian professional mixed martial artist, sambist and grappler also known as The Machine. He is 5’6 tall and he competes in the bantamweight division.

Dvalishvili is a black belt in judo. When he was young, he started his training in Tbilisi in judo, sambo, traditional wrestling called qartuli chidaoba and transitional fighting called khridoli.

Currently, Dvalishvili is signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, which is based in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States and he trains at Serra-Longo Fight Team in Long Island, New York, USA. Here are 13 more things about him:

1. Born and raised in Tblisi, Georgia, he moved to the U.S. in 2012.
2. As an amateur MMA fighter, he defeated Andrew Vass and Nathaniel Smith in 2013.
3. In 2014, he made his professional MMA debut in Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA where he lost to Darren Mima and Ricky Bandejas but defeated Dennis Dombrow.
4. In 2016, he defeated Geoffrey Then, Matt Tullos, Paul Grant and Tony Gravely.
5. On February 24, 2017, he became the Ring of Combat Bantamweight Champion by submitting Sukhrob Aydarbekov via armbar in Atlantic City. On June 2, 2017, he successfully defended the title by knocking out Raufeon Stots via spinning backfist in Atlantic City.
6. On December 9, 2017, he made his UFC debut at “UFC Fight Night 123” in Fresno, California, USA where he lost to Frankie Saenz via split decision.
7. On April 21, 2018, he lost to Ricky Simon via technical submission at “UFC Fight Night 128” in Atlantic City. On September 15, 2018, he defeated Terrion Ware via unanimous decision at “UFC Fight Night 136” in Moscow, Russia.
8. On May 4, 2019, he defeated Brad Katona via unanimous decision at “UFC Fight Night 151” in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. On November 7, 2019, he won silver at the 2019 Combat Sambo World Championships in Cheongju, South Korea where he defeated Cesar Ramirez, Abdylla Babayev, Mindaugas Ramaska and Yerlan Makhmtov before losing to Stepan Kobenov.
9. He defeated Casey Kenney at “UFC Fight Night 167” in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, USA on February 15, 2020, Gustavo Lopez at “UFC Vegas 2” in Enterprise, Nevada on June 13, 2020 and John Dodson at “UFC 252” in Enterprise on August 15, 2020 all via unanimous decision.
10. He defeated Cody Stamann via unanimous decision at “UFC Vegas 25” in Enterprise on May 1, 2021 and Marlon Moraes via technical knockout via punches at “UFC 266” in Paradise, Nevada on September 25, 2021. On October 21, 2023, he lost to Kevin Dantzler via unanimous decision at “Fury Pro Grappling 2” in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
11. On August 20, 2022, he defeated Jose Aldo via unanimous decision at “UFC 278” in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
12. On January 21, 2023, he defeated Darren Branch at “High Rollerz 23” in Las Vegas.
13. He was 32 years old when he defeated Petr Yan via unanimous decision at “UFC Fight Night 221” in Paradise on March 11, 2023, which upgraded his professional MMA record to 16 wins and 4 losses.