13 things about UFC Bantamweight Champion Merab Dvalishvili from Tbilisi

Merab Dvalishvili is a Georgian professional mixed martial artist and grappler born in Tbilisi, Georgia. He competes in the bantamweight division.

BIOGRAPHY

Currently, Dvalishvili is signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, which is based in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. He is fighting out of Long Island in New York, USA.

When Dvalishvili was young, he started his martial arts journey in Tbilisi training in judo, sambo, traditional wrestling called qartuli chidaoba and transitional fighting called khridoli. Here are 13 more things about him:

1. His fight name is The Machine.
2. He is a black belt in judo.
3. Before joining the UFC, he competed in Ring of Combat, Classic Entertainment and Sports MMA and Cage Fury Fighting Championships.
4. He is 5’6″ tall.
5. He holds a professional MMA record of 20 wins and 4 losses.
6. In 2012, he moved to the U.S.
7. In 2013, he joined Serra-Longo Fight Team on Long Island and defeated Andrew Vass and Nathaniel Smith in amateur MMA bouts.
8. On January 24, 2014, he made his professional MMA debut.
9. On December 9, 2017, he made his UFC debut.
10. In 2019, he finished second in the World Sambo Championships in South Korea.
11. On October 29, 2021, he lost to Kevin Dantzler via unanimous decision at “Fury Pro Grappling 2” in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
12. On January 21, 2023, he submitted Darren Branch at “High Rollerz 23” in Las Vegas.
13. On January 10, 2025, he turned 34.

TIMELINE

From 2017 to 2025, Merab Dvalishvili had 15 UFC bouts. Here are the results:

2017

• On December 9, 2017, he lost to Frankie Saenz via split decision at “UFC Fight Night 123” in Fresno, California, USA.

2018

• On April 21, 2018, he lost to Ricky Simon via technical submission at “UFC Fight Night 128” Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA.
• On September 15, 2018, he defeated Terrion Ware via unanimous decision at “UFC Fight Night 136” in Moscow, Russia.

2019

• On May 4, 2019, he defeated Brad Katona via unanimous decision at “UFC Fight Night 151” in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

2020

• On February 15, 2020, he defeated Casey Kenney via unanimous decision at “UFC Fight Night 167” in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, USA.
• On June 13, 2020, he defeated Gustavo Lopez via unanimous decision at “UFC Vegas 2” in Enterprise, Nevada.
• On August 15, 2020, he defeated John Dodon via unanimous decision at “UFC 252” in Enterprise.

2021

• On May 1, 2021, he defeated Cody Stamann via unanimous decision at “UFC Vegas 5” in Enterprise.
• On September 25, 2021, he defeated Marlon Moraes via technical knockout at “UFC 266” in Paradise, Nevada.

2022

• On August 20, 2022, he defeated Jose Aldo via unanimous decision at “UFC 278” in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.

2023

• On March 11, 2023, he defeated Petr Yan via unanimous decision at “UFC Fight Night 221” in Paradise.

2024

• On February 17, 2024, he defeated Henry Cejudo via unanimous decision at “UFC 298” in Anaheim, California.
• On September 14, 2024, he became the new UFC Bantamweight Champion by dethroning then champion Sean O’Malley via unanimous decision at “UFC 306” in Las Vegas.

2025

• On January 18, 2025, he successfully defended the UFC Bantamweight Championship title by defeating Umar Nurmagomedov via unanimous decision at “UFC 311” in Inglewood, California.
• On June 7, 2025, he successfully defended the UFC Bantamweight Championship title by submitting O’Malley at “UFC 316” in Newark, New Jersey.