It’s protected to say that Merab Dvalishvili won’t ever spar with Ilia Topuria again after UFC 317.
UFC champions Merab Dvalishvili and Ilia Topuria are two of MMA’s most beloved stars after their statement 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 lightweight title at UFC 317 on Saturday.
Dvalishvili and Topuria are two of the best athletes to come back out of Georgia, a small country that borders Russia and Turkey. While Dvalishvili and Topuria now not live in Georgia, each UFC superstars use their platforms to have a good time their native country and sometimes have a good time victories with Georgian fans.
Merab Dvalishvili shares hilarious story about why he now not spars with Ilia Topuria
Dvalishvili and Topuria share a novel, longtime friendship, stemming from when each fighters were working their way up towards title contention. While they’ve trained together just a few times during their careers, they’ll likely never have one other sparring session, in line with the UFC bantamweight champion.
In a recent appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, Dvalishvili explained why he now not spars together with his fellow Georgian amid their UFC success.
“He’s so organized. Ilia, he sees things before, he works for it, and he has plans,” Dvalishvili said of Topuria.
“I can’t spar with him anymore [LAUGHS], because he hits [too] hard. He dropped me two times from body shots.
“Thank God that my head is positive! Each time that I finished sparring with him, I used to be blissful, ‘Thank God it’s over!’”
Now that Topuria is a full-time lightweight, it’s protected to say that a spar between the newly-minted lightweight champion and Dvalishvili wouldn’t end well. But Dvalishvili has showcased the flexibility to take big shots throughout his profession, especially in wins over O’Malley and former title challenger Marlon Moraes.
As of this writing, Georgia stakes claim in two UFC world titleholders. Meanwhile, the US only has one current UFC titleholder, women’s bantamweight champion Kayla Harrison.
Ilia Topuria vs. Paddy Pimblett showdown hits potential delay after UFC 319 star leaks fight
After knocking out Oliveira at UFC 317, Topuria turned his full-time attention towards a showdown with longtime rival Paddy Pimblett. Topuria and Pimblett had a tense faceoff within the cage just minutes after Topuria’s win.
But a possible Topuria vs. Pimblett showdown might need to attend, after UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis leaked an alleged co-main event at UFC 319. In keeping with du Plessis, Pimblett and Justin Gaethje will compete within the UFC 319 co-headliner in Chicago.
As of this writing, the UFC matchmakers haven’t announced Pimblett and Gaethje’s next bookings. UFC CEO Dana White was non-committal to Topuria facing Pimblett when asked on the UFC 317 post-fight press conference.