Merab Dvalishvili has forged an arduous path to his first-ever UFC title bout.
The Georgian buzzsaw fights UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley in the main event of next month’s Riyadh Season Noche UFC in Las Vegas (or UFC 306 to you an me) and will come into the contest on the back of ten successive wins at 135-pounds against some of the division’s most well-regarded names.
The four most recent names on Dvalishvili’s run to title contention include a former title contender (Marlon Moraes) and three former UFC champions in Jose Aldo, Petr Yan and, earlier this February, against the 2008 Olympic gold winner and two-division UFC champion Henry Cejudo — and as you can see in the video below, his grappling stacked up very admirably against a fighter considered to be among the most celebrated and decorated wrestlers to ever enter the sport.
Check out the Dvalishvili vs. Cejudo fight from UFC 298 below.
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