It’s secure to say that Merab Dvalishvili won’t ever spar with Ilia Topuria once more after UFC 317.
UFC champions Merab Dvalishvili and Ilia Topuria are two of MMA’s most beloved stars after their assertion wins this month within the Octagon. Dvalishvili stopped Sean O’Malley of their bantamweight title rematch at UFC 316, and Topuria knocked out Charles Oliveira for the then-vacant light-weight title at UFC 317 on Saturday.
Dvalishvili and Topuria are two of the best athletes to come back out of Georgia, a small nation that borders Russia and Turkey. Whereas Dvalishvili and Topuria now not reside in Georgia, each UFC superstars use their platforms to have a good time their native nation and infrequently have a good time victories with Georgian followers.
Merab Dvalishvili shares hilarious story about why he now not spars with Ilia Topuria
Dvalishvili and Topuria share a singular, longtime friendship, stemming from when each fighters had been working their approach up in direction of title competition. Whereas they’ve educated collectively a number of occasions throughout their careers, they’ll seemingly by no means have one other sparring session, in line with the UFC bantamweight champion.
In a latest look on The Ariel Helwani Show, Dvalishvili defined why he now not spars along with his fellow Georgian amid their UFC success.
“He’s so organized. Ilia, he sees issues earlier than, he works for it, and he has plans,” Dvalishvili mentioned of Topuria.
“I can’t spar with him anymore [LAUGHS], as a result of he hits [too] onerous. He dropped me two occasions from physique pictures.
“Thank God that my head is ok! Each time that I completed sparring with him, I used to be completely happy, ‘Thank God it’s over!’”
Now that Topuria is a full-time light-weight, it’s secure to say {that a} spar between the newly-minted light-weight champion and Dvalishvili wouldn’t finish properly. However Dvalishvili has showcased the flexibility to take large pictures all through his profession, particularly in wins over O’Malley and former title challenger Marlon Moraes.
As of this writing, Georgia stakes declare in two UFC world titleholders. In the meantime, america solely has one present UFC titleholder, girls’s bantamweight champion Kayla Harrison.
Ilia Topuria vs. Paddy Pimblett showdown hits potential delay after UFC 319 star leaks struggle
After knocking out Oliveira at UFC 317, Topuria turned his full-time consideration in direction of a showdown with longtime rival Paddy Pimblett. Topuria and Pimblett had a tense faceoff within the cage simply minutes after Topuria’s win.
However a possible Topuria vs. Pimblett showdown may need to attend, after UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis leaked an alleged co-main occasion at UFC 319. In line with du Plessis, Pimblett and Justin Gaethje will compete in the UFC 319 co-headliner in Chicago.
As of this writing, the UFC matchmakers haven’t introduced Pimblett and Gaethje’s subsequent bookings. UFC CEO Dana White was non-committal to Topuria facing Pimblett when requested on the UFC 317 post-fight press convention.
