“All I want is to beat this guy,” the Georgian fighter said in an interview with The Schmo. “I don’t care that it’s the main event, I don’t care about the money – I just want to beat him up. I’m one of the best, I beat Jose Aldo and next will be Petr Yan. This guy is sick in the head. He was a champion and didn’t know the rules. And he still thinks he’s undefeated in the UFC. I’ll try to make it more modest”
“I want to finish him off. I do not like him. I respected all my opponents, but I just can’t stand this guy. He’s a stupid Russian punk and I want to punish him. I will show my best and knock him out. It will be better than winning the title because this is a personal fight for me and for my country. My whole country supports me. Everyone knows how Russia treats Georgia and Ukraine, so it’s Russia against Georgia. It’s a sport, but I have a big responsibility because I’m fighting a Russian guy.”
After beating the Russian, Dvalishvili plans to travel to Thailand and track down his friend, double ONE champion Anatoly Malykhin, who owes him a large sum of money.
“We argued with his friend, Anatoly Malykhin, for 50 thousand dollars, but I never received this money from him. I still hope that he will act like a real man and keep his word. Otherwise, I will have to go to Thailand and find him there. Weight difference doesn’t matter – it’s a street fight and I don’t have to cut weight and follow the rules. If he does not give back the money, let him mean that I grew up on the street, and this is very serious.
Recall that the fight in the bantamweight division between Peter Yan and Merab Dvalishvili will be the main event of the UFC Fight Night 221 tournament, which will be held on March 11 in Las Vegas.