Dvalishvili had previously said he was willing to sit on the sidelines and wait for a UFC title shot. That’s no longer the case after some serious ‘disrespect’ from Cejudo.
Merab Dvalishvili has given up getting the next title shot against bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley.
Dvalishvili is ranked No. 2 at 135 pounds, right behind former champion Aljamain Sterling. He’s also on a wild nine-fight winning streak in the UFC. No one deserves a title shot more than “The Machine,” but we know ‘deserves’ doesn’t always mean much when it comes to landing fights against the UFC’s biggest stars. Money matters, and the money fight is Sean O’Malley vs. Marlon Vera.
Merab seems to have realized that in the last few days, and just released a statement calling out Henry Cejudo. Cejudo has been calling for the fight since losing to Aljamain Sterling in May. And he hasn’t exactly been polite in how he’s been doing it.
“Hey Merab, you got hair transplants on your head, now get some on your balls,” Cejudo recently wrote on Instagram. “Sign the contract!”
Hey @HenryCejudo first of all put respect on my name. there is no contract!What should I sign? Since Sean O’malley doesn’t want the smoke of a real contender and the UFC gives their boy what he wants,I will fight you. I am not sitting around waiting. I’m here and ready to go. pic.twitter.com/fHCcxNlRqK
— Merab “The Machine” Dvalishvili (@MerabDvalishvil) October 11, 2023
Now Dvalishvili is responding.
“Hey Henry Cejudo, first of all put respect on my name,” Dvalishvili said in a video posted to X (formerly Twitter). “Stop your bulls— disrespect. You may be humbled again.”
“Next: fake news,” he continued. “There is no contract. What should I sign? Since Sean O’Malley doesn’t want the smoke of a real contender and, of course, the UFC gives their boy what he wants, I’m not going to sit around waiting. I’m gonna fight with you. I’m here, ready to go.”
Right around the same time as Merab was accepting the fight, “Triple C” was going in on “The Machine” in a new YouTube video.
“You don’t wanna fight Aljamain Sterling, you guys are buddy buddy, it seems like you’re his butt plug now,” Cejudo said. “I really don’t get it. Me, I’d fight any of my friends for the belt.”
“Merab, I don’t think the UFC is very fond of you, from what I’m hearing. So, you have a couple options. One: you wait out and you dry yourself out. And who knows, man, I think the UFC’s planning on doing something with you. Dry you out and just never let you fight again. Or you could fight the Triple C.”
“They’re gonna keep bumping you down,” Cejudo concluded. “Because you don’t want to fight your boyfriend Aljamain.”
Dvalishvili may not be willing to fight Sterling, but he’s more than happy to fight Cejudo. Let’s hope real contracts get drawn up soon and this fight makes its way to Toronto for a January pay-per-view clash.