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Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman has expressed his support for Merab Dvalishvili ahead of his reported matchup against MMA legend Jose Aldo. Weidman and Dvalishvili train together at the world-renowned Serra-Longo Fight Team in New York. Dvalishvili is looking to capture UFC gold in the bantamweight division.
Plans regarding the Dvalishvili-Aldo matchup were first reported by Ariel Helwani. ESPN MMA reports that the fight's been verbally agreed to by Dvalishvili and Aldo. Presently, Dvalishvili stands at No. 6 in the official UFC bantamweight rankings, while Aldo is at the No. 3 spot.
A win over Jose Aldo – who’s currently an elite bantamweight and was previously a UFC featherweight champion – could catapult Dvalishvili into the title picture at bantamweight.
In a video posted by the Twitter account @iHeartGeorgius1, Merab Dvalishvili can be seen signing what appears to be a bout contract. The Georgian fighter confirmed this by suggesting that he’s signed a fight contract to face Aldo at UFC 278 on August 20th.
Merab Dvalishvili indicated how big of an opportunity the Aldo matchup is for him and vowed to do everything in his preparation for the fight. Dvalishvili retweeted the video via his official Twitter account. Furthermore, in response to Dvalishvili’s tweet, Weidman posted a tweet of his own in support of his longtime teammate. Weidman tweeted:
“Let’s go @MerabDvalishvil.”
Merab Dvalishvili responds after UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling hints at featherweight move
Reigning UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling is reportedly likely to defend his title against T.J. Dillashaw at UFC 279 on September 10th. Sterling, for his part, has claimed that the Dillashaw matchup isn’t official yet, adding that he might end up fighting Cejudo next instead of Dillashaw.
Furthermore, ‘Funk Master’ recently teased a move to the featherweight division. Sterling happens to be good friends with longtime teammate Merab Dvalishvili. Speaking of which, he recently insinuated that after Dvalishvili’s next win, he (Sterling) would probably move up to featherweight to let the Georgian MMA stalwart win the bantamweight belt. Sterling tweeted:
"After Merab’s next win, I will probably have to move up, to allow him his chance that he earned, to make history for Georgia to win a world title. We will figure it out."
Sterling’s tweet was featured in a post by the @mmafighting Instagram handle. Dvalishvili commented on the post and lauded Sterling for his kindness and respect as a friend. Noting that ‘Funk Master’ is truly “gold,” Dvalishvili highlighted that he learns from Sterling every day. Dvalishvili wrote:
“This man @funkmastermma is gold! I learn from him every day. I am grateful to call him brother !”
