Merab Dvalishvili reveals why a duel with Ilia Topuria is out of the question

Merab Dvalishvili has no interest in moving up to featherweight, especially to face Ilia Topuria for the 145-pound title. As he prepares for his long-awaited fight for bantamweight gold against Sean O'Malley at UFC 306, Dvalishvili is sticking to his guns.

At the event, which is set to take place at the Sphere in Las Vegas, “The Machine” could potentially become the second fighter from Georgia to win a UFC title. Topuria knocked out Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298 earlier this year to secure the featherweight title.

O'Malley, on the other hand, has his sights set on moving up to featherweight. If O'Malley beats Dvalishvili this weekend, he has expressed interest in challenging Topuria for the title. But while his opponent may have those ambitions, Dvalishvili is happy with his current division and has no intention of attacking his friend.

When asked if he could move up in weight, Dvalishvili rejected the idea without hesitation, especially when it comes to fighting Topuria. Although he is six years older than 27-year-old Topuria, Dvalishvili admires him for his intelligence and modesty. He even said that Topuria used to humiliate him during their sparring sessions.

UFC bantamweight contender Merab Dvalishvili reveals why a fight against Ilia Topuria is out of the question

In an interview, Dvalishvili spoke openly about the situation:

“Never. I will never fight Ilia,” he explained during his appearance on the Pound 4 Pound podcast. “First of all, he's my brother. I really love him. He may be younger than me, but he's smart and a very good guy. A family man and a good friend of mine. I will never fight him.”

He reflected further on their training experience and admitted:

“I fought with him and he destroyed me. He is stronger than me. I am not afraid of fighting, but Ilia is my friend, Georgian, and I will never fight him.”

For Dvalishvili, it's not about fear of competition, but about loyalty. He feels comfortable at bantamweight and doesn't feel the need to challenge Topuria at featherweight:

“I feel very comfortable in my weight class here at 135 [pounds]. I don't think I'm going to go and fight for the belt. That's not going to happen.”

Although he doesn't believe he can move down to featherweight for a championship fight, Dvalishvili doesn't completely rule out the possibility of competing in the 145-pound division. But the idea of ​​facing someone like Volkanovski or Max Holloway seems out of reach for him at the moment:

“I can play a few matches, yes, I will. But to fight against someone like me, [Alexander] Volkanovski, Max Holloway, I'm not confident yet.”

Interestingly, Dvalishvili has even considered moving down to flyweight:

“Maybe one day, if I start a diet, I can even get down to 125. [pounds]”, he mentioned, suggesting that any possible weight changes in the future may be more likely to be a decrease than an increase.

Dvalishvili is loyal to Topuria

Topuria himself has his own challenges ahead. He will defend his featherweight title against former champion Max Holloway in the main event of UFC 308 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on October 26.

Meanwhile, Dvalishvili's career is at its peak: he has won ten fights in a row, the longest in UFC bantamweight history. Over the course of his impressive career, he has defeated notable names such as Henry Cejudo, Petr Yan and Jose Aldo.

With UFC 306 just around the corner, the focus remains on his upcoming fight with O'Malley, but Dvalishvili's loyalty to Topuria is clear. No matter what opportunities arise at featherweight, a fight between these two friends seems out of the question, at least for now.

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