Dana White: Merab Dvalishvili Will Get Bantamweight Title Shot
At UFC 299, Sean O’Malley will attempt to defend the bantamweight title against Marlon Vera. Regardless of who wins that bout, the champion has their next fight lined up. At UFC 298, Merab Dvalishvili earned a shot at bantamweight gold with his win over Henry Cejudo.
UFC CEO Dana White was bullish on the fact that Dvalishvili would fight for the title in his UFC 298 post-fight press conference.
“Yes,” White said when asked if Dvalishvili would fight for the winner of Sean O’Malley and Marlon Vera. “He looked good tonight. In my opinion, you can’t take three years off in a combat sport. It’s never done well for anybody. Cejudo looked great in the first round, but he started to gas out in the second round, and Merab just got stronger as the fight went on.
At UFC 298, Dvalishvili picked up an impressive decision victory over Cejudo that saw him cleanly win rounds two and three. That win extended Dvalishvili’s win streak to ten and was his third consecutive win over a former champion.
Dvalishvili has had a strong argument for a bantamweight title shot in the past. The problem was that former champion Aljamain Sterling was his friend and the two were not interested in fighting. That changed at UFC 292 when Sean O’Malley defeated Sterling to take his belt. Additionally, Sterling has since moved up to featherweight. Those events have opened a path for Dvalishvili to get his crack at UFC gold.
A lot can change in the UFC in a short period. It is certainly not a guarantee that Dvalishvili will be next; however, White’s opinion is massive and he seemed convicted of the idea that Dvalishvili is next in line. In the aftermath of the UFC 299 main event, Dvalishvili’s status as the next contender will be put to the test.
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