At UFC 311 last week, Merab Dvalishvili logged the first defense of his bantamweight title in a landmark upset victory over the highly-touted Umar Nurmagomedov. Receiving some harsh blows, and even losing a few grappling exchanges in the early goings of the contest, “The Machine” lived up to his namesake and poured on the pressure in the championship rounds.
By the time the fight was over, Nurmagomedov looked entirely gassed, while Dvalishvili seemed all too eager to continue.
The win extended the Georgian-born fighter’s win streak to 11 at 135-lb (12 overall) since losing his last contest to Ricky Simón back in 2018, the longest in the division’s history.