Absolute madman, Merab Dvalishvili, will throw down with striking specialist, Petr Yan, this Saturday (March, 11, 2023) at UFC Las Vegas inside The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Dvalishvili’s UFC career didn’t start smoothly. He lost a split decision to Frankie Saenz in his debut, but he clearly deserved the nod. Next time out, he threw Ricky Simon around the cage for three full rounds, fell into a guillotine, and DEBATABLY went out just after the final bell rang. Maybe. It’s confusing to this day whether or not “The Machine” took a brief trip to La La Land.
The real point here is that Dvalishvili started off his UFC career fighting strong competition, and he hasn’t slowed down. He’s now riding an eight-fight win streak that could easily be 10 in a row with slightly different officiating. He’s risen higher than most expected already, and now he can really confirm himself as an immediate title challenger as soon as Aljamain Sterling clears his post as Bantamweight kingpin.
Let’s take a closer look at his skill set ahead of his first main event:
Striking
Wrestlers often try to limit the amount of exchanges happening before diving toward the legs, but Dvalishvili is not that guy. Fans may not have been impressed with his wall-and-stall efforts against Jose Aldo, but typically, Dvalishvili pursues chaos with reckless abandon.
Dvalishvili is not afraid of exchanges. He invites them, in fact, as any foe he can convince to trade with him can certainly be double legged. Is he the best pocket boxer on the roster? No, but Dvalishvili can fire off a 1-2-3 and stand his ground. If his opponent backs up, he can swarm with punches.
He does not, however, just run forward with punches right away. Much of the wrestler’s volume is made up of kicks. Often, this is as simple as quick lead leg kicks to the leg and body, but Dvalishvili has an arsenal of weirder tricks up his sleeve too. He’s more than happy to fire off a front kick or spin in slightly haphazard fashion — anything to score a point and keep his opponent on edge.
The right hand lead is a major technique of Dvalishvili. It’s a hard punch that serves to close distance quickly, which has a couple purposes. Sometimes, Dvalishvili will simply crash into the pocket behind his lead right hand and keep the combination going with a left hook. That’s often the case if his opponent backs off, but if they stand their ground and trade, Dvalishvili will instead go directly into a takedown.
Finally, Dvalishvili is more willing than most to incoporate spinning punches into his combinations. He actually stopped future Bellator champion Raufeon Stots with a spinning backfist in his final fight on the regional scene! I won’t pretend there’s a ton of perfect technique or major thought behind Dvalishvili’s spinning backfist, but it’s a weapon nonetheless, and it helps keep him unpredictable.
Wrestling
Dvalishvili grew up wrestling, learning Judo, and training Sambo. Inside the Octagon, he’s one of the most prolific takedown artists of all time. You don’t score SIXTY-THREE takedowns without a variety of techniques!
First and foremost, let’s take shots. Dvalishvili has a nice double leg of the classic variety. If he times his way under a punch, he’ll run through his opponent’s legs without issue, and he works the shot well along the fence too. In addition, Dvalishvili likes to work the cross-trip double leg. As he changes levels and hits the waist, Dvalishvili’s back leg will come forward and look to wrap up an ankle. This can leave him in iffy position if mistimed, but often, it helps eliminate the chance of getting sprawled upon.
Very often, Dvalishvili will combine the aforementioned right hand lead with this trip shot. He’ll also fire a lead overhand and crash into his opponent, grabbing at a leg with his left arm. It’s slightly similar to how Frankie Edgar would jab his way into the running single leg pickup, but it’s more of a collision that off-balances his opponent than deft sequence.
Dvalishvili will snatch up the single leg as well. Whether he catches a kick or actually shoots for the leg, Dvalishvili’s favorite finish is to hike the trapped leg up a bit higher into his armpit then trip out the base leg.
“The Machine” has proven himself an extremely active clinch wrestler. He fights for knee position very well, especially along the fence, where he’ll fight to yank his opponent over his knee from inside position then immediately lock for a body lock slam if they fight their own leg back inside (GIF). He’s secured some similar trips from the rear waist lock, stepping around his opponent’s leg as he falls to the canvas.
Taking a step back from specific takedowns, I’d like to address a common critique of Merab Dvalishvili’s wrestling and overall MMA game. Sometimes, Dvalishvili will put up a dozen takedowns on his opponent, and the immediate response will be, “He must be terrible at top control if he has take the guy down that many times.”
That’s not necessarily wrong — Dvalishvili definitely focuses on activity more than control — but it’s missing the point. The central idea to Dvalishvili’s game is that he does not ever get tired. He can maintain a pace unlike his opponent, and provided they’re wrestling, that pace will eventually win out.
Thus, Dvalishvili keeps opponents trapped in a cycle of wrestling. He shoots/clinches, lands a takedown, and starts transitioning/landing shots. His opponent is forced to react and fight their way back up, usually at the cost of a few head-buzzing punches. Then, Dvalishvili is right back on the reshot or mat return, and the cycle repeats.
Dvalishvili is winning every second of that cycle. His opponent is getting further drained and demoralized, and they’re being forced to play into his style of fight. It doesn’t matter if Dvalishvili is allowing his opponent back up and failing to control the position — he’s still controlling the fight.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Dvalishvili has a single submission win on his record. Inside the Octagon, he’s tried to snatch the neck in guillotines, and he’ll attack the rear naked choke when his opponent turns away. Overall, however, submissions definitely feel like a very secondary part of his offense. Unless given the neck easily, he’ll just keep the chaos going and punch rather than try to lock down his foe and force the tap.
The sole submission loss of Dvalishvili’s career came to Ricky Simon, and it’s one of the weirdest things I’ve seen in more than a decade of covering the sport. While trapped in a mounted guillotine for a full minute, Dvalishvili failed to effectively fight hands or frame the hips. Instead, he pedaled his feet like he was riding a bike. Allegedly, this is supposed to help promote blood flow to the brain and prove to the referee that he was still conscious, but I have no idea if the former is actually true.
Whether due to his ride-the-bike innovation or incredible desire to survive, he did manage to last the full minute inside a locked guillotine. The referee ruled him unconscious at the bell, and he was … sort of?
I’m not sure anything can be learned, but it was a wild sequence!
Conclusion
Dvalishvili is a nonstop wrestler with a style of fighting that can make anyone look a lot less impressive. If he can impose his game on Yan — an excellent anti-wrestler — then it really looks like Dvalishvili is lined up to hold the Bantamweight crown after Aljamain Sterling moves to Featherweight.
Andrew Richardson, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu brown belt, is a professional fighter who trains at Team Alpha Male in Sacramento, California. In addition to learning alongside world-class talent, Andrew has scouted opponents and developed winning strategies for several of the sport’s most elite fighters.
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