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Merab Dvalishvili's longtime coach, John Wood, hopes that following UFC 316, fans begin to realize just how good his pupil really is. The event saw Dvalishvili beating Sean O'Malley to retain his bantamweight title.
In 2024, Dvalishvili defeated O'Malley at Noche UFC 306 via unanimous decision to win the title. In their rematch, the 34-year-old showed himself to be an improved fighter, finishing his opponent in Round 3 via submission.
It was the first submission loss of O'Malley's career, and Dvalishvili stamped his mark on the sport as the bona fide best bantamweight in the world right now.
Wood was interviewed by Submission Radio one day after his student's title win over O'Malley, where he reflected on Dvalishvili's perframance, saying:
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"People just don't understand how good [Dvalishvili] is and how good he is getting. He's still just learning, getting better everyday, every [fight] camp. These are the things I keep telling people. There's been a lot of people giving me sh*t about, 'Oh, you don't know you're fighter, you don't know this, you don't know [that] he's not a finisher.' Well, that's the goal, is to get him to be a finisher. The goal of every fighter is to try to finish."
Check out John Wood's comments on Merab Dvalishvili below (0:20):
Merab Dvalishvili could be one of the best fighters in the world, says Cory Sandhagen
Merab Dvalishvili's likely next opponent, Cory Sandhagen, believes that the Georgian is one of the best fighters in the world right now regardless of weight class.
Sandhagen and Dvalishvili shared some friendly words with each other backstage following UFC 316, with 'The Machine' acknowledging the American as the most deserving bantamweight of a title shot.
'The Sandman' is confident that he has the style to topple the king at 135 pounds. But he did not shy away from declaring his potential next opponent as one of the world's best fighters either.
In an interview with ESPN MMA following UFC 316, Sandhagen said:
"When Merab decides to get aggressive, he gets aggressive. I'm looking forward to that. He is the best guy in the division, and he's maybe one of the best guys in the UFC. I want to take that guy out... You've got to knock that guy out. That's it. You've just got to knock that guy out."
Check out Cory Sandhagen's comments on Merab Dvalishvili below (0:55):
