While UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili’s impressive performance over Cory Sandhagen in the co-main event of UFC 320 is being largely overshadowed by Alex Pereira’s wild 80 second win over Magomed Ankalaev in the main event, the win pushes “The Machine” one step closer to proving without a doubt that he’s the greatest 135 pound fighter of all time.
Dvalishvili earned a dominant victory over Sandhagen, earning 49-45, 49-45, 49-46 scorecards and nearly knocking out “The Sandman” in the second
round of their bout. Sandhagen was possibly the toughest stylistic matchup possible for the Georgian fighter, and Sandhagen came in looking as sharp and focused as he’s ever been. That didn’t stop Dvalishvili from largely controlling the fight and taking his challenger down at will.
While some are still not impressed with Merab’s grappling-heavy style, you can’t deny the statistics that show he’s a generational talent and on the cusp of GOAT status. At UFC 320 he scored 20 takedowns on Sandhagen, the most takedowns in a UFC title fight and one short of Khabib Nurmagomedov’s record for most takedowns in a single UFC fight.
Those takedowns also made him the first fighter in UFC history to score 100 takedowns. He breezed past that record on Saturday night and sits at a stunning 117 takedowns over his UFC career. He now holds the fourth longest winning streak in UFC history at 14, just three spots behind Anderson Silva with 16 wins. He also tied teammate Aljamain Sterling for most consecutive UFC bantamweight title defenses with 3.
And Dvalishvili is just getting started. After dispatching Sandhagen, Merab’s biggest ‘problem’ is finding a worthwhile opponent. When Merab called for a quick return in December, Joe Rogan suggested there was no one capable of providing a legitimate challenge.
“Hey, it’s MMA, anything can happen,” Dvalishvili countered unconvincingly. “Everybody’s beatable. It only takes one punch, one submission, one mistake and everything can happen. I’m just normal guy, you know, nothing special.”
The statistics would say otherwise, and by this time next year they could say he’s one of the best UFC fighters to ever compete.
