Merab Dvalishvili
| Merab Dvalishvili | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | January 10, 1991 Tbilisi, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union | ||||||||||||||
| Native name | მერაბ დვალიშვილი | ||||||||||||||
| Other names | The Machine | ||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Georgian American | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight | 135 lb (61 kg; 9 st 9 lb) | ||||||||||||||
| Division | Bantamweight (2014–present) Featherweight (2016) | ||||||||||||||
| Reach | 68 in (173 cm) | ||||||||||||||
| Fighting out of | Long Island, New York, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Team | Serra-Longo Fight Team (2013–present) | ||||||||||||||
| Trainer | Ray Longo and Matt Serra | ||||||||||||||
| Rank | Black belt in Judo Purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Matt Serra | ||||||||||||||
| Years active | 2014–present | ||||||||||||||
| Mixed martial arts record | |||||||||||||||
| Total | 24 | ||||||||||||||
| Wins | 20 | ||||||||||||||
| By knockout | 3 | ||||||||||||||
| By submission | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| By decision | 15 | ||||||||||||||
| Losses | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| By submission | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| By decision | 3 | ||||||||||||||
| Other information | |||||||||||||||
| Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog | |||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Merab Dvalishvili (Georgian: მერაბ დვალიშვილი [ˈmerab ˈdʷaliʃʷili]; born January 10, 1991) is a Georgian and American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is the current UFC Bantamweight Champion. Dvalishvili is the first Georgian-born champion in UFC history. As of June 10, 2025, he is #2 in the UFC men's pound-for-pound rankings.
Dvalishvili's UFC career began with two losses against Frankie Saenz and Ricky Simón. Since then, he has been on a 13-fight win streak—tied for the fourth longest in UFC history—defeating former champions, including José Aldo, Petr Yan, and Henry Cejudo. On September 14, 2024, Dvalishvili captured the UFC Bantamweight Championship with a unanimous decision victory over Sean O'Malley. He has since defended the title twice—first against Umar Nurmagomedov, and then in a rematch with O'Malley, finishing the former champion via submission.