“The Machine” wants another former champion on his resume.
Merab Dvalishvili is fresh off a Bantamweight championship-winning performance at UFC 306 earlier this month (Sept. 14, 2024) inside The Sphere in Las Vegas, Nevada, dominating Sean O’Malley over five rounds to dethrone “Sugar” (watch highlights).
It didn’t take five minutes before Dvalishvili was bombarded with questions about who his first defense might be against. While the running theory is that Umar Nurmagomedov is next in line after he handled Cory Sandhagen, “The Machine” believes he hasn’t done enough to earn a shot like he did.
Hint: It wasn’t easy.
“I keep saying he doesn’t deserve it because he has only fought one guy from the Top 15,” Dvalishvili said on Jake Shield’s new podcast, Fight Back. “It’s easy to market this guy [because of his last name] … Umar is a new challenge, and guys like this make me work harder.”
The Georgian champion has already put it out in the UFC universe that he wants to fight former two-time Flyweight champion, Deiveson Figueiredo, and doubled down on it with Shields.
“I think the most deserving guy is Figueiredo,” Dvalishvili said. “But, I guess UFC wants me to fight Umar. All the people, I see their comments, everybody wants me to fight Umar. So, I will fight Umar.”
Whoever Dvalishvili gets in his first 135-pound title defense, the opponent better be ready to fight because the new champion wants to be active.
To checkout all the UFC 306-related news and notes click here.
Firas Zahabi, the head coach of UFC legend Georges St-Pierre, was impressed with Merab Dvalishvili’s wrestling at UFC 306, but if the new bantamweight champ wants to become a big star, he has to change his style.
Dvalishvili earned a unanimous decision against Sean O’Malley in the main event of the UFC’s most recent pay-per-view card earlier this month. Zahabi is familiar with Dvalishvili as a person and as a fighter, but he’d like to see “The Machine” pick up a few wins that don’t involve the judges.
“On the ground, guys, I’ll tell you something, Merab never finishes,” Zahabi said on the Tristar Gym YouTube channel. “Look, I love Merab… I love his personality. I love the craziness, I love the fact that in the beginning of Round 1, Merab is yelling at O’Malley’s corner. … He’s a very charming, lovable character. Dana White called him a moron, he’s like, ‘Ahhh, that guy’s a moron.’ … The only one thing you can predict about Merab is that he’s going to shoot that takedown. His cardio is un-matchable.
“The good thing about Merab, his cardio is amazing. His personality is amazing. The bad thing about Merab, he doesn’t finish — he doesn’t even get close to a finish.”
Throughout St-Pierre’s impressive championship run, he also went to his fair share of decisions. While that gets you victories, it may not get the fan base behind you.
Zahabi was along for the ride with “Rush,” all the way until St-Pierre stopped Michael Bisping at UFC 217 in November 2017 to capture the middleweight title in his final fight. Zahabi’s hope is that Dvalishvili can start adding stoppages to his résumé, and believes if he doesn’t, the fans will turn on him — and quickly.
“His finishing record is abysmal, I’ve got to be honest,” Zahabi said. “I’m telling you guys, I love the guy, he’s a world champion. I think he’s awesome. However, his finishing rate — imagine you can take down almost everybody you’ve ever fought, and you literally only have one submission. That doesn’t make any sense. … You’re literally taking everybody down, how come you never finish?
“He needs to have in-depth, super-deep courses on how to finish — submission, ground-and-pound — he has to change his style. And he can do it. He’s a very talented, intelligent guy. He needs to do it, because if he doesn’t do it, the fans will get sick of him. … They’ll get sick of him running around the ring and just taking people down. They’re going to get sick of that. He has to entertain the crowd, he has to show finishing ability. If he doesn’t, it could be disastrous to his career.”
Mike Tyson and Dana White at a UFC event on May 24, 2013 | Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Mike Tyson has been in the boxing game a long time, and he’s happy to see Dana White jump in.
Ahead of his Nov. 15 fight with Jake Paul, Tyson appeared on the It Is What It Is podcast, where discussed a number of topics, including the White’s potential foray into the squared circle. White recently expressed renewed interest in his oft-discussed Zuffa Boxing promotion, and Tyson believes that the UFC CEO’s promotional style will translate perfectly to this new endeavor.
“That’s going to be the best thing to happen to boxing, just like UFC,” Tyson said. “If you’re in UFC, and if anybody’s booing the fight, you’re not going to see that guy. His next fight is going to be in South Dakota somewhere. Only good fights. If you don’t have a good fight, you ain’t never going to see that guy again.
“Not like boxing, ‘This guy’s going to fight next month again? We don’t want to see that.’ … if any fights stink, you’re not back in the UFC no more, you’re never going to see those guys again.”
Tyson specifically mentioned Shakur Stevenson as an example of a star boxer that continues to receive a lukewarm reception from the fans. Stevenson recently defended his WBC lightweight title with a lopsided decision win over Artem Harutyunyan in a bout that was lambasted by fans and media for a lack of action.
The 58-year-old Tyson expects to draw plenty of eyeballs for his return to the ring in November when he takes on Paul, though that matchup has also drawn its fair share of criticism. Tyson is 31 years older than Paul, who rose to fame as a YouTuber and social media influencer, and is competing professionally for the first time since 2005. He most recently squared off with fellow boxing legend Roy Jones Jr. in an exhibition bout in November 2020 on a card that coincidentally featured Paul fighting basketball star Nate Robinson on the undercard.
Asked for his thoughts on Paul as a boxer, Tyson was brief.
“I don’t know,” Tyson said. “He’s improved since the first time he fought. I started him off, I started Jake off. I let him fight on my undercard four years ago, no one knew who the hell he was. So I started him and, most likely, it looks like I’m going to finish him.”
Much of the criticism surrounding Tyson vs. Paul are concerns over Tyson’s health. The two were actually supposed to fight this past July, but a pre-fight medical scare ahead of that date led to the bout being postponed.
Tyson didn’t speak directly about his own health situation, but he was asked to comment on whether he felt frequently concussed NFL quarterback Tua Tagovailoa should continue playing football and his answer may have reflected his thoughts on his own career and that of other combat sports lifers.
“Let me explain this to you, there’s some athletes you have to protect them from themselves, because they would rather die than quit,” Tyson said. “So that answers the question.”
Diego Lopes and Aljamain Sterling | Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Aljamain Sterling wants Diego Lopes next.
Sterling was supposed to face Movsar Evloev in a pivotal featherweight matchup at UFC 307 on Oct. 5. However, earlier this month, Sterling suffered an injury in training that forced him out of the fight. According to Sterling, he suffered a low-grade tear in his elbow that won’t require surgery, leading him to hope for a December return, but in the meantime, he’s rehabbing and trying to stay ready for Evloev.
“Just a lot of PT right now, trying to get healthy, and training around the injury,” Sterling told The Schmo. “I’ve got to stay in shape in case Movsar does decide to take the fight for December. I don’t want to be starting camp with no cardio whatsoever. I want to make sure I’m building and keeping that momentum so that if we’re ready to go for December, whether it’s him or somebody else, I’ll be in shape and ready to get in there.”
But Evloev may not be an option anymore. In light of Sterling’s injury, both Evloev and the UFC are searching for a replacement opponent for UFC 307, though nothing has been made official at this time. Should Sterling get replaced, he already has his sights set on another possible opponent.
“Maybe Diego Lopes?” Sterling said. “Maybe that will be a battle for the [No.] 3 [ranking]. I think Diego rising to stardom, his rise in the sport in the UFC has been huge and nothing short of inspiring, to be honest. I’m happy for the guy…
“If we’re talking the next best fight, if Movsar declines, I just don’t know who else would he fight? But if you give me the option, I always wanted Brian Ortega so I could get the closest spot to the top, and now that next closest guy is Diego Lopes. That’s all it is. It has nothing to do with what this guy did, it’s the name value, what it gets me, risk vs. reward. If I’m going to risk it for the biscuit, that’s the guy I’d risk it for.”
Lopes recently picked up the biggest win of his career, taking a unanimous decision over Ortega at UFC 306 earlier this month. The win elevated Lopes to No. 5 at featherweight in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings, and the 2023 Rookie of the Year already dismissed Evloev’s call for a rematch as he instead targets either a title fight or title eliminator.
Sterling most recently competed at UFC 300 where he won a unanimous decision over Calvin Kattar in his featherweight debut. The former UFC bantamweight champion is 24-4 overall in his MMA career.
Former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson will look to turn back time when he laces up the gloves for one final boxing match against celebrity pugilist Jake Paul, a professionally sanctioned showdown scheduled for Fri., Nov. 15, 2024 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The Netflix-streamed fight card will also feature the super lightweight title fight rematch between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano, as well as the influencer battle pitting Neeraj Goyat against Whindersson Nunes.
Here’s the latest Netflix lineup:
Tyson vs. Paul Netflix Main Event (10 p.m. ET):
Heavyweight: Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul | Eight rounds
Tyson vs. Paul Netflix Undercard (8 p.m. ET):
140 lbs.: Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano | 10 rounds for super lightweight title 147 lbs.: Mario Barrios vs. Abel Ramos | 12 rounds for WBC welterweight title 160 lbs.: Neeraj Goyat vs. Whindersson Nunes | Four rounds
“This is taking the chance to fight somebody as vicious as Mike can be,” Paul said during Fanatics Fest earlier this year in New York. “You got to risk it for the biscuit. That’s the name of the game. I’m here to make history. I’m here for a challenge. I’m here to fight one of the most dangerous men in all of boxing. No one that ever did anything great got there with ease or by an easy, non-bumpy road. I’m here to challenge myself. He’s vicious. He’s a killer. I know all of these things. He has one-punch knockout power. He’s the greatest heavyweight of all time. But I will prove all the haters wrong.”
For much more on the upcoming Paul vs. Tyson boxing spectacle click here.
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