Meet UFC 306’s Unbreakable ‘Machine’

Wrestling ace, Merab Dvalishvili, will challenge knockout artist, Sean O’Malley, for the Bantamweight crown this Saturday (Sept. 14, 2024) at UFC 306 inside The Sphere in Las Vegas, Nevada.

I really think no moment captures Dvalishvili better than the sole stoppage loss of his entire professional career. In his second UFC fight, Dvalishvili threw around experienced wrestler, Ricky Simon, for the majority of 15 minutes. Seconds away from a clear-cut win, Dvalishvili landed in a deep guillotine choke and was reversed into mount.

“The Machine” reacted like no one else I’ve ever seen. He was unable to fight hands too effectively, so as the blood flow to his brain slowed, Dvalishvili aggressively pumped his legs to keep it trickling. It saw him to the final bell, though the referee sided against him.

Regardless of the end call, that’s a bizarre strategy I’ve never seen before or since, but it embodies Dvalishvili’s grit and will power like nothing else. Like a high-powered fan spinning at rapid speed, “The Machine” kept spinning even after being unplugged.

Years later, Dvalishvili was functionally unconscious against Marlon Moraes and didn’t miss a beat. Dvalishvili is almost certainly going to be hit very hard by “Suga” Sean at some point, but historically, it doesn’t end up mattering.

Let’s take a closer look at the challenger’s skill set:

Striking

On the feet, Dvalishvili’s boldness, aggression, and endless cardio stand out more than any grand strategy or perfect form.

Dvalishvili is not afraid of exchanges. He invites them, in fact, as any foe he can convince to trade is certainly within range to 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 incorporate 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.

Dvalishvili’s kickboxing did noticeably level up against Petr Yan, a very difficult man to take down. Again, his form wasn’t drastically better, but Dvalishvili really excelled by constantly mixing up the ranges as he attacked.

Yan is famous for his ability to read an opponent, identify their strategy, and then capitalize ruthlessly. Dvalishvili’s answer to this was to throw at a ridiculous pace from all ranges with lots of weapons. He overloaded Yan’s brain, rendering the Russian knockout artist defensive for much of the fight.

In many exchanges, Dvalishvili would begin with a high, snappy kick then crash forward with follow-up punches. As Yan backed off from the exchange, Dvalishvili would keep driving forward with a clinch or running double leg attempt. As soon as went to defend the grappling, Dvalishvili would hit him three or four times on the break (GIF).

General strategy aside, Dvalishvili’s kicking has never looked better than in that fight. He did serious damage to the calf, which is always a good idea against a boxer. He also used kicks to set up punches well, an off-beat strategy to help land shots and prevent Yan from returning fire (GIF).

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. Subsequently, he does a lot well! With 79 takedowns landed, “The Machine” is third in UFC history behind Georges St-Pierre and Gleison Tibau.

First and foremost, let’s talk 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. 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 core idea of 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.

Dvalishvili’s last two wins over Yan and Cejudo are the best of his career, victories over an elite striker (with excellent wrestling) and an elite wrestler (with excellent striking). In both bouts, Dvalishvili kept his foes trapped in that cycle and made them look helpless. Cejudo is possibly the most decorated wrestler in UFC history, and he still ended up getting taken down five times and looking absolutely miserable in the process.

There is absolute a method to Dvalishvili’s rinse and repeat takedown strategy, and it’s working brilliantly at the highest level.

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.

As mentioned in the intro, 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? We’ve certainly seen more unconscious fighters labeled fit to fight (Matt Hughes vs. Carlos Newton 1, Jared Cannonier two weeks ago).

Conclusion

This feels like a fight that can only end in extreme fashion. O’Malley could snipe Dvalishvili with the perfect right hand or counter knee and put him completely unconscious in brutal fashion. Or, Dvalishvili could dogwalk O’Malley around the Octagon for 25 full minutes like it’s his introduction to wrestling practice.

We find out which this weekend.

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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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Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 306 fight card right here, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. ET (simulcast on ESPNews at 8 p.m. ET), before the pay-per-view (PPV) main card start time at 10 p.m. ET (also on ESPN+).

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