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Dana White confirms Merab Dvalishvili will fight for the bantamweight title following UFC 298 win

Merab Dvalishvili will face the winner of next month’s bantamweight title tilt between reigning champion ‘Sugar’ Sean O’Malley and…

Merab Dvalishvili will face the winner of next month’s bantamweight title tilt between reigning champion ‘Sugar’ Sean O’Malley and No. 6 ranked contender Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera.

‘The Machine’ earned his 10th straight victory at UFC 298 on Saturday night, scoring a decisive unanimous decision victory over former two-division champion Henry Cejudo. Following the evening’s festivities, UFC CEO Dana White confirmed that Dvalishvili will be next in line for a shot at the 135-pound crown.

“He looked good tonight, man,” White said at the post-fight press event. “He did what he had (to do). In my opinion, you can’t take three years off in a combat sport. It’s never done well for anybody. Cejudo looked great in the first round. I thought he started to gas out in the second round. Merab just got stronger as the fight went on.”

Dana White reveals why cejudo didn’t get the mic following his loss to dvalishvili

As for Cejudo, the 2008 Olympic gold medalist vowed to retire should he come up short against Dvalishvili inside Anaheim’s Honda Center. By all accounts, ‘Triple C’ will stand by his words, but he was not given the opportunity to address the crowd following his loss.

“Henry Cejudo already retired,” White replied when asked why Cejudo did not get a post-fight interview. “He did the whole drop the gloves thing. Tonight was Merab’s night. Merab went in there and fought the No. 3 guy in the world — a former world champion — and he won easily. Tonight was Merab’s night. If he wants to retire again, he could do that here or somewhere else. You don’t give the mic to Cejudo — tonight was Merab’s night.”

Dana White: You don't give the mic to Cejudo tonight. Tonight was Merab's night.#UFC298 pic.twitter.com/2GoViNrZnU

— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) February 18, 2024

If this truly is the end for Henry Cejudo (again), ‘Triple C’ will close out his career by going 10-4 under the UFC banner and 16-4 overall. As a former bantamweight, flyweight, and Olympic champion, Cejudo will be remembered as one of the greatest combat sports athletes of all time.

Mark Zuckerberg’s painfully awkward appearance at UFC 298 is going viral: ‘Still went better than Threads’

UFC 298 gave fight fans a lot to talk about. Emanating from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, the…

UFC 298 gave fight fans a lot to talk about.

Emanating from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, the promotion’s latest pay-per-view offering delivered some memorable moments, chief among them being Ilia Topuria’s shocking second-round knockout of Alexander Volkanovski to claim the featherweight championship.

Sitting cageside for the festivities was Facebook co-founder and avid MMA fan, Mark Zuckerberg. One glance at the Meta CEO’s Instagram and you’ll see just how much love and appreciation he has for the sport, so his attendance was by no means unusual. However, fans were taken aback when ‘The Zuck’ was spotted as part of Volkanovksi’s entourage while ‘The Great’ made his walk to the Octagon.

Those who spotted Zuckerberg on camera quickly noticed how awkward he looked as he attempted to help out in any way he could despite being largely ignored by Volkanovski and his team.

Mark Zuckerberg has no idea what to do with his hands pic.twitter.com/dr6wWoc5VG

— Pardon My Take (@PardonMyTake) February 18, 2024

Volkanovski did acknowledge Zuckerberg’s presence with a pre-fight embrace, but even that felt insincere if not downright uncomfortable.

Fans online had a field day, offering a variety of responses to Zuckerberg’s behavior during the walkout. “Incredible what you can learn about a person from a clip like this,” one commenter said. “Still went better than Threads,” another added, referencing Zuckerberg’s failed ‘Twitter killer’ app.

Earlier in the evening, Merab Dvalishvili engaged in a conversation with Zuckerberg while in the middle of his main card matchup with former two-division titleholder Henry Cejudo. Following the fight, Dvalishvili hopped the fence and dapped up ‘The Zuck’ in one of the more viral moments of the evening.

What was your favorite Mark Zuckerberg moment from UFC 298?

Alexander Volkanovski heaps praise on Ilia Topuria after KO loss at UFC 298: ‘That was a clean right hand’

Former UFC featherweight champion, Alexander Volkanovski reflects on devastating knockout loss suffered against Ilia Topuria last night. After over…

Former UFC featherweight champion, Alexander Volkanovski reflects on devastating knockout loss suffered against Ilia Topuria last night.

After over three years as featherweight champion, Volkanovski would drop his title to Topuria after the 27-year-old landed a brutal right hand not long into the second round.

Alexander Volkanovski heaps praise on Ilia Topuria

Volkanovski, now on back-to-back losses, was ever the professional when discussing the loss. The fan faviroute credited Topuria for his performance and gave no excuses.

“You can’t take anything away from Topuria,” Alexander Volkanovski said during his post-fight press conference. “If he puts a hand on you like that, you’re going to go down. I don’t care, that’s just that.

“That was a clean right hand and I think no matter who you are, you let one of those land on your chin while you’re caught there, you’re probably going down. Don’t let him catch you, that’s what that was. He caught me, so I won’t take nothing away from him. I’m not going to sit there and say it was this or it was that. I felt great. Camp was great. I felt good in there.”

Volkanovski came into the Topuria fight just three months after being knocked out after being on the receiving end of a head kick from Islam Makhachev. When comparing the two, Volkanovski admits that unlike the Makhachev, which he took on short notice, he felt prepared and ready but Topuria’s power proved just too potent.

“This one, I was high spirits the whole way, I’m still in high spirits. He caught me, that’s that,” Volkanovski continued.

“I felt good in there, I felt like I’d seen everything early, but he ended up catching me. I was pretty comfortable in the first round and then we started being like, alright we’ll start to do more. I was just about to do more and he caught me, so that’s just the game. I’m pretty confident we were probably up until then, but that’s just the game.”

Volkaonvski will likely take time out after two back-to-back stoppages but has proven to be a highly competitive and motivated fighter. He will be back.

What would you like to see Alexander Volkanovski do next?

Wanderlei Silva reacts to shocking Hall of Fame induction at UFC 298: ‘It’s a dream come true’

Despite tipped to receive the ‘Pete Rose treatment’ and land his blacklisting from the promotion’s Hall of Fame, former…

Despite tipped to receive the ‘Pete Rose treatment’ and land his blacklisting from the promotion’s Hall of Fame, former PRIDE middleweight champion, Wanderlei Silva was announced as the latest inductee into the Fight Wing of the Hall during last night’s broadcast for UFC 298 in Anaheim, California.

Silva, a revered knockout artist and a dominant middleweight titleholder under the banner of the now-defunct, PRIDE Fighting Championships banner between 2001 and 2007, made the eventual return to the UFC back in December of that year, for a long-anticipated clash with Chuck Liddell in the pair’s awarded Fight of the Year.

And attending UFC 298 overnight in California, Silva, a native of Curitiba, received his induction into the Hall of Fame – ahead of this summer’s induction, where he will join former undisputed lightweight champion, Frankie Edgar as part of the International Fight Week ceremony.

Wanderlei Silva reacts to UFC HOF induction

Reacting to his impending induction, Curitiba native, Silva described his landing in the Fight Wing of the Hall as a “dream come true” for him.

“It’s a dream come true to be part of the sport,” Wanderlei Silva told UFC backstage overnight. “And to have this great support from this beautiful organization. Thanks so much Dana White, for all what you’re doing for us. I’m so glad to be apart of the best event in the world.”

Boasting a 35-14-1(1) professional record, during his pomp in the Japanese promotion, Silva would turn in wins over Dan Henderson, Kazushi Sakuraba, Hidehiko Yoshida, Rampage Jackson, to name a few Ricardo Arona.

During his tenure with the UFC, Silva had turned in victories over the likes of Keith Jardine, Cung Le, Brian Stann, and former undisputed middleweight champion, Michael Bisping.

Are you happy to see Wanderlei Silva land in the UFC’s Hall of Fame?

Ilia Topuria calls out Conor McGregor after KO’ing Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298: ‘I will be waiting for you in Spain’

A new fighter has entered the Conor McGregor sweepstakes, and his name is Ilia Topuria. Stepping into his first…

A new fighter has entered the Conor McGregor sweepstakes, and his name is Ilia Topuria.

Stepping into his first title fight at UFC 298, ‘El Matador’ seized the moment, scoring a highlight-reel-worthy knockout of featherweight kingpin Alexander Volkanovski in the second round of their championship headliner.

Immediately following the fight, Topuria called out Irish megastar Conor McGregor for a potential showdown when the promotion inevitably makes its way to Spain.

“Conor McGregor, if you still have some balls, I will be waiting for you in Spain,” Topuria said during his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan.

Could We See Ilia Topuria vs. Conor McGregor in 2024?

Topuria has been shooting his shot all week, predicting a spectacular knockout against Volkanovski long before willing it into reality. That will certainly turn a lot of heads — McGregor’s included.

Of course, that would require McGregor to actually step inside the Octagon and compete. Something he hasn’t done in nearly three years despite weekly rumors of his quote-unquote “greatest comeback in combat sport’s history” going down any day now. ‘Mystic Mac’ has long been linked to a fight with former Bellator MMA champion Michael Chandler, but even UFC CEO Dana White has remained non-committal on who McGregor will eventually fight.

The only thing we do know for certain is that McGregor will compete in 2024 — according to White — and that he was never once considered for the recently announced UFC 300 headliner.

Are you interested in seeing the new UFC featherweight world champion mix it up with the former two-division titleholder?

Ilia Topuria wins title, stops rival Alexander Volkanovski with brutal second round KO – UFC 298 Highlights

Unbeaten Georgian featherweight, Ilia Topuria has landed the undisputed divisional throne tonight in blistering circumstances, landing a thunderous overhand…

Unbeaten Georgian featherweight, Ilia Topuria has landed the undisputed divisional throne tonight in blistering circumstances, landing a thunderous overhand right KO win over Alexander Volkanovski to win the title in the pair’s UFC 298 headliner in Anaheim, California.

Topuria, who entered his first championship fight tonight on the West Coast, ends the long-standing featherweight title reign of Australian favorite, Volkanovski — preventing the Joe Lopez trainee from landing his sixth successful championship defense at the featherweight limit.

Landing a slew of leg kicks to likely win the opening rounds, Georgian-Spaniard, Topuria rushed Volkanovski to the fence midway through the second round, unleashing with a huge overhand right, slumping the New South Wales native to the canvas with a hellacious knockout win — capturing the divisional title and improving to 15-0 as a professional.

And in the immediate aftermath of his title ascension, Topuria urged UFC brass to debut the Octagon at an eve tu in Spain — before offering to defend his championship in a fight with former two-division gold holder, Conor McGregor in his first attempted championship defense.

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