Merab Dvalishvili has captured the bantamweight championship after several years of being extremely dominant as a top contender and is embarking on one of the most exciting title stints in UFC history. The Georgian won the title late last year and has made three spectacular performances so far in 2025, resulting in a trio of fantastic title defenses in some of the world’s top competitions. Currently scheduled to battle old foe Petr Yan this weekend, he looks to fully cement his place as not only the greatest 135-pound athlete on the roster, but in the entire history of the sport.
Following his powerful eviction from the win column at the hands of Merab Dvalishvili, Yan has since reeled off three straight victories, defeating other bantamweight standouts such as Song Yadong, Deiveson Figueiredo and Marcus McGhee. “No Mercy,” a former belt holder himself, is trying to regain his position at the head of the pack in the division.
Merab Dvalishvili is on a fourteen-fight winning streak and is at the height of his powers as a pound-for-pound figure in the UFC. If he manages to topple the Russian in their runback, he will break the record for most consecutive bantamweight title defenses, a record set by his teammate Aljamain Sterling.
Embed from Getty Images
Here are all of Merab Dvalishvili’s UFC championships ranked:
4. Merab Dvalishvili vs. Cory Sandhagen: UFC 320
In his most recent expedition to the Octagon, Merab Dvalishvili attempted to secure the third retention of his throne on the UFC 320 main card. His opponent for the occasion was none other than the division’s Dark Horse, and the man many labeled as a legitimate threat to his government, Cory Sandhagen.
For the better part of half a decade, Sandhagen has always been known as a powerful name in the bantamweight division, which was only reinforced by his high-profile victories over Marlon Moraes, Marlon Vera and Rob Font. Although unfortunate setbacks for the aforementioned Yan and Umar Nurmagomedov had put his title aspirations on hold, a stunning second-round stoppage of Figueiredo at UFC Iowa last May finally gave “Sandman” his long-sought championship shot.
Heading into his match against Sandhagen, Merab Dvalishvili had already established an aura of dominance created largely by his seemingly endless gas tank, allowing him to continually push his opponents to exhaustion.
That charisma was again on display in the fight, as Dvalishvili stalked his challenger all night long. attempted 399 total strikesof which 243 came ashore. It was this volume of punches that allowed “The Machine” Sandhagen to nearly finish in the second round, rocking the American before making a miraculous recovery. The champion also set the record for most takedowns in a UFC title match by landing 20 of his 37 attempts to bring his foe to the canvas.
3. Merab Dvalishvili vs. Sean O’Malley II: UFC 316
At UFC 306 in 2024, Merab Dvalishvili headlined his first-ever pay-per-view show. On this occasion, the European native faced promotional megastar and then incumbent bantamweight Sean O’Malley. Capitalizing on his elite wrestling, the Syndicate MMA product captured the title after a stellar display of mixed martial arts, setting the stage for a highly anticipated rematch last summer at UFC 316.
Ahead of his second fight with his nemesis, O’Malley opted to relax his training, specifically stay away from social media so as not to be distracted as he prepared to snatch back his former crown. While some fans and pundits were quick to dismiss the challenger’s immediate championship opportunity given the other more deserving contenders, others were more than happy to see the two men engage in a fun grudge match.
While “Suga” had all the tools on paper to make it a difficult time for the champion, Merab Dvalishvili emphatically suppressed any hopes of a comeback for the fan-favorite striker by drowning O’Malley under pressure. It was late in the third that the Georgian managed to drag the Iowa native to the ground and lock in a tight north-south choke that stopped the tilt.
The win not only gave Dvalishvili his second belt retention, it also made him the second man to stop O’Malley as a professional, and the first to do so by submission.
2. Merab Dvalishvili vs. Sean O’Malley I: UFC 306
His first title shot at UFC 306 made Dvalishvili undeniably one of the best bantamweights in the promotion, evident in his then three wins over previous champions in José Aldo, Petr Yan and Henry Cejudo. Possessing a flawless wrestling game, the Las Vegas native was seen as a stalwart of then-135-pound king Sean O’Malley.
O’Malley won his first twelve bouts as a professional, wowing audiences with his fan-friendly punching style that earned him a plethora of astonishing finishes, including eight knockouts. However, it came as a shock when he suffered a stunning loss to Marlon Vera at UFC 252 after the Ecuadorian landed a perfect leg kick to the back of the American’s thigh, leaving O’Malley’s leg numb. A subsequent barrage of elbows from mount saw “Suga” suffer the first defeat of his career.
O’Malley returned from his trip to the Apex in glorious fashion and went on to put together a phenomenal six-fight winning streak, culminating in a viral second-round knockout against then three-time defending bantamweight king Aljamain Sterling. He then defended one title in a redemptive runback with Vera, tackling “Chito” en route to a unanimous decision.
Dvalishvili made it his mission to avoid the champion’s sniper-like power punches and made it a priority to take down O’Malley at every turn, landing six of them in the entire 25-minute match. The challenger remained in control almost the entire time and just clocked in more than ten minutes of checking timewith some of his wrestling entries appearing seamlessly. He also found a few opportunities for playmaking, like kissing O’Malley’s back, which undoubtedly did a bit of mental damage. By the time it was over, Merab Dvalishvili had finally broken through and became the new incumbent bantamweight.
1. Merab Dvalishvili vs. Umar Nurmagomedov: UFC 311
In his first-year stint at the top of the 135-lb division, Merab Dvalishvili was tasked with kicking off the first pay-per-view event of 2025, UFC 311, with a resounding bang. For his first belt retention, ‘The Machine’ met the weight category’s consensus dark horse in the fast-rising Umar Nurmagomedov.
A protégé and cousin of famed lightweight legend Khabib Nurmagomedov, Umar Nurmagomedov had a similar background to the defending Merab Dvalishvili, as the 29-year-old had spent virtually his entire life on the wrestling mats, making him perhaps the most dangerous bantamweight wrestler outside of Dvalishvili himself. He also showed an evolving striking skill set over the course of his UFC stint, which was evidenced by his knockout of Raoni Barcelos, becoming the only man to knock out the Brazilian in such fashion. Although Serra-Longo’s representative laid claim to the title, some considered Nurmagomedov to be the true top dog of the category.
When compared to his past and future opponents in the organization, the then undefeated Dagestani Merab gave Dvalishvili the toughest test of his entire career to date, with the two phenoms landing a similar number of significant blows to more than 100 each. Their control times also did not differ that much, Dvalishvili only gained one minute more. Where the difference between the champion and the challenger really started to manifest itself was in the gas tank, as by the time of the fifth round Nurmagomedov looked noticeably tired, while the incumbent seemed bizarrely fresh. Dvalishvili, brought to the brink, barely got the nod from the judges to score his first championship defense.
#Merab #Dvalishvili #Ranking #previous #exciting #title #fights