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At UFC 316, Merab Dvalishvili successfully defended his bantamweight title against Sean O'Malley. Afterward, he scaled the fence and interacted with both UFC CEO Dana White and U.S. President Donald Trump. A still of him shaking hands with Trump was shared on X/Twitter, quickly drawing fan attention.
In fact, it was shared by Dvalishvili himself, who captioned the tweet by touching on how honored he was to have briefly chatted with Trump. He also expressed gratitude for the support the 78-year-old has shown to the UFC and its fighters, even tagging him in the post.
"It was an honor to shake the hand and chat with the leader of our great country. Thank you for supporting the fighters of the UFC."
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Check out Merab Dvalishvili's post below:
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The MMA fandom reacted positively to the tweet, expressing their own support for Dvalishvili's reverence for Trump, who is a relatively popular figure in the sport, especially due to his close friendship with UFC CEO Dana White. One fan hailed both Dvalishvili and Trump as 'legends.'
"Two Legends!"
The support was widespread in the thread under the tweet:
"You're a real one"
This was echoed by another fan:
"You have made a fan of me, sir. Continue to be a great role model in the sport, as we need more of them. You're a beat."
Not everyone, though, had something positive to say.
"You're from Georgia. No?"
A collage of fan reactions can be seen below:
On the professional front, Dvalishvili is at a historic high. He has authored a 13-fight win streak, and is on the verge of cleaning out the bantamweight division. Many already regard him as the division's greatest-ever fighter, and given that he has no interest in fighting at featherweight, he'll continue to rack up title defenses.
Merab Dvalishvili is an American citizen
While he is a proud Georgian, having been born in Tbilisi, Georgia, Merab Dvalishvili is also an American citizen. He became a naturalized American citizen in March 2024, which he announced on X/Twitter a day afterward.
"So today I did a thing...as of 3/22/24 I am a citizen of the USA. My heart will always be with my home Georgia. But I am blessed and grateful to have had the opportunities the United States of America gave me and I will continue to work hard to make both my countries proud!"
Check out Merab Dvalishvili's post below:
