Henry Cejudo reviews Merab Dvalishvili's resume while weighing in on his bantamweight GOAT status after UFC 316 win

Henry Cejudo put Merab Dvalishvili's competitive accomplishments in perspective to conclude that the Georgian fighter deserves the title of bantamweight GOAT.

Dvalishvili defeated former champion Sean O'Malley in dominant fashion in their UFC 316 rematch, strengthening his legacy as one of the best bantamweight champions in the sport's history. With the win, Dvalishvili has now defeated four former champions and a next-generation challenger in Umar Nurmagomedov.

Sharing his thoughts on the situation in the recent episode of the Pound 4 Pound with Kamaru and Henry podcast, Cejudo concluded:

"He's gone through Sean O'Malley two times, Umar Nurmagomedov, Triple C, Petr Yan, Jose Aldo, Marlon Moraes... I mean, these are all former champions. It's officially time to just call him the GOAT dude, the bantamweight GOAT."

Check out Henry Cejudo's comments below:

Bantamweight legend Dominick Cruz, former two-time champion T.J. Dillashaw and Aljamain Sterling, who holds the record for most consecutive bantamweight title defences in the division (three defences), have been considered the greatest bantamweight fighters of all time. Dvalishvili is the latest addition to the discussion with a series of dominant performances against elite competitors.

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Henry Cejudo argues Merab Dvalishvili deserves the pound-for-pound top spot

At the time of this writing, Merab Dvalishvili is the No.4-ranked fighter in the UFC's official pound-for-pound rankings. With another win over Sean O'Malley under his belt, many observers believe that Cory Sandhagen is the last remaining serious threat to his title reign.

In the aforementioned episode of the Pound 4 Pound with Kamaru and Henry podcast, Henry Cejudo argued that Dvalishvili should be promoted to the pound-for-pound No.1 spot. He reasoned:

"If he's more active than all these other fighters, it's not fair for you not to say that he's the pound-for-pound best fighter. I want to give you an example, Kamaru Usman at one point, fighting everybody, lapping everybody and doing that on several occasions and he was pound-for-pound. What is the difference between Merab Dvalishvili. He's able to lap people and beat people a couple of times there. Bro, there's no denying..."

He added:

"If he beats Cory Sandhagen in this fight, yes. I'm going to put him at pound-for-pound best fighter in the world, dude. 100 percent."

Check out Henry Cejudo's comments below (6:52):

As of June 9, lightweight champion Islam Makhachev is the pound-for-pound No.1-ranked fighter, while Jon Jones and Ilia Topuria occupy No.2 and No.3 spots, respectively. Jones has not competed professionally since November 2024, and has hinted at retirement. Meanwhile, Cejudo and Makhachev have vacated their titles and are set to challenge for the title in the second weight class.