It was a long wait for Merab Dvalishvili to get an opponent after his stunning comeback win over Marlon Moraes that put him near the top of the UFC’s bantamweight division.
When the call finally came from the UFC matchmakers, the 31-year-old Georgian fighter was admittedly surprised after hearing the name Jose Aldo as the offer.
“It is amazing,” Dvalishvili said to The Fighter vs. The Writer. I didn’t expect this. Jose Aldo, he’s a legend. He was the only one I thought of, but everyone else. UFC provided me with him as my next opponent, and I’m now ready for it.
“He’s just another fighter, another opponent for me and I’m just going to go and fight hard. We’ve got to show people a good fight.”
During Dvalishvili’s extended layoff over the last 11 months, many names were suggested as potential opponents including former UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan after he engaged in back-to-back fights against Aljamain Sterling.
Dvalishvili considers Sterling one of his close friends and colleagues so it might seem like an obvious fit to extend that rivalry with Yan. But, the Matt Serra-Ray Longo trained fighter decided he would rather have someone like Aldo in the cage.
“I have a legend opponent in Jose Aldo,” Dvalishvili explained. “This is perfect for me. “Why do we need to discuss trash? He is a legend and I respect him. He is the greatest and will try to kick me but it’ll be interesting. I don’t think he does anything wrong to me. He’s an opponent. It’s a sport. We’re going to just go in and fight each other.
“Petr Yan, he’s a piece of s***. Whatever. He’s in Russia and I do not want to speak about him. He’s in Russia and I hope he gets locked there and never comes to the U.S.”
Dvalishvili has Aldo and it is Sean O’Malley, who eventually drew Yan in the UFC 280 fight in October. This was another crucial bout at 135 lbs.
Dvalishvili said that he is not a big fan of either fighter when assessing the potential impact on the division by looking at this particular matchup.
“‘Sugar’ Sean O’Malley and Petr Yan, I don’t care,” Dvalishvili said on Wednesday. They both sucked .”
Dvalishvili could not offer more praises for Aldo, the long-serving champion at featherweight in UFC history. He is currently riding a three-fight winning streak at bantamweight.
Well known for his blistering kicks and overall dangerous striking game, Aldo presents problems to anybody he faces but Dvalishvili looks forward to solving that puzzle come Saturday night at UFC 278.
“He is a great striker. We all know that,” Dvalishvili stated. “He kicks hard and he defends wrestling. He is hard to get down. However, even if you do manage to knock him out of the ring, his jiu jitsu skills are outstanding. He will get up or he will try to attack submissions.
” I have to fight anywhere. I have to be smart and I have to show everybody that I can fight everywhere. Everyone thinks I am more of a grappler, but I can strike. I just don’t like to get punched in my face too much. I can keep it up with Jose Aldo and I can throw punches or whatever. I am ready to take on any position .”
A win over Aldo would put Dvalishvili in contention for the title, but you shouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t get a chance at UFC gold with Sterling as champion.
Both fighters stated quite emphatically they won’t fight one another, with Sterling even saying that he would quit the division to clash with Dvalishvili.
” We’re still on the same page, we’re just not fighting one another,” Dvalishvili stated for his side. Aljo must defend his belt. “First, we have to win the fight. He’ll do it. While we will continue to talk, it is not our intention to fight. We’ll find something. We’ll be okay.
” We are friends and training partners. He’s helping me, he’s here with me. After I fight, I will go help him, he has a fight coming up and his training camp will start and we’ll be helping each other. We are good teammates, good friends, neighbors.”
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