Fighter Profile: Merab Dvalishvili

Background

Georgian bantamweight training at Serra-Longo Fight Team in New York, a former UFC bantamweight champion known for the highest work rate in the division. His professional record is 21-5.

Career timeline

• Won the UFC bantamweight championship from Sean O’Malley at UFC 306 on 14 September 2024 by unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 48-47) at the Sphere in Las Vegas, extending a winning streak that had reached eleven.
• Defended the title three times: against Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311 in January 2025, against O’Malley in a rematch at UFC 316 in June 2025 (a third-round ninja choke), and against Cory Sandhagen at UFC 320 in October 2025.
• Lost the title to Petr Yan at UFC 323 on 6 December 2025 by unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 48-47).
• Has not competed since. A trilogy bout with Yan is in the UFC’s plans but has been delayed by Yan’s back surgery.

Fight craft

Dvalishvili’s game is volume of everything: takedown attempts thrown in numbers no one else attempts, a cardio base that does not fade across five rounds, and constant forward motion that denies opponents any time to set. It wins by exhaustion. Yan showed the counter — elite takedown defence turns the whole approach into a long kickboxing match Dvalishvili is not built to win, because his striking exists mainly as a threat to set up the level change.

In the modern MMA landscape

Our wider MMA analysis says Dvalishvili “dethroned” O’Malley at UFC 316 and that his reign was “remarkably short-lived”. Both need correcting: he won the belt at UFC 306 in September 2024, UFC 316 was his second defence, and he held the title for roughly fifteen months with three successful defences before Yan beat him.

Return to What the Modern MMA Game Demands.

Sources

• UFC 306 — main card results
• UFC 323: Dvalishvili vs Yan 2 — main card results
• ESPN — Merab Dvalishvili profile

Record and competitive status checked 1 August 2026.