Merab Dvalishvili, who has been waiting for a shot at gold since UFC 299’s main event was announced, will be prepared to step in if anything goes wrong in the last hours of the UFC 299 final.
The main event of the pay-per view, which will take place on March 9 in Miami at Kaseya Center, is a title fight between Sean O’Malley (champion) and Marlon Vera (challenger). Dvalishvili (17-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC) will be traveling to Florida on Friday and plans to make weight to serve as a back-up fighter, if needed. Oren Hodak, of KO Reps, confirmed the news Tuesday evening to MMA Junkie.
In recent years, the UFC has usually assigned a back-up fighter to title fights, but their services haven’t been required yet.
Dvalishvili currently has a winning streak of 10 fights. This includes three wins in a row over former UFC titles holders. Dvalishvili won his last match at UFC 298 in less than three months. It was a unanimous decision. 1 contender status.
“Whoever will be champion, I’m going to face him next,” Dvalishvili said during his in-cage post-fight interview. “I’ve been calling Sean O’Malley since 2018. … My only goal is for the title…
Continue reading…
