Fighter of the Year: Merab Dvalishvili
Merab Dvalishvili did not end the year on a high note, but he has accomplished more than enough in 2025 to be nominated as Fighter of the Year. At Low Kick MMA, he earned the honor through a staff and writers’ vote, reflecting the impact of his performances throughout the year.
Dvalishvili became the 135-pound kingpin by dethroning Sean O’Malley at UFC 306, and in 2025, at UFC 311, for the first defense of the championship, Dvalishvili took on Umar Nurmagomedov.
After five rounds, the bout went to the judges’ scorecard, and ‘The Machine’ cruised to a unanimous decision victory. This win marked the first successful defense of his bantamweight championship.
SECOND SUCCESSFUL TITLE DEFENSE FOR MERAB DVALISHVILI
At UFC 316, Merab Dvalishvili took on former champ Sean O’Malley in a title rematch. O’Malley worked on his takedown defense this time, but Dvalishvili had big plans and wanted to end the outing ASAP.
‘The Machine’ did as he promised and secured a Round 3 submission finish against ‘Suga.’
THIRD SUCCESSFUL TITLE DEFENSE FOR MERAB DVALISHVILI
For the third defense of his bantamweight crown in 2025, Dvalishvili locked horns with Cory Sandhagen at UFC 320.
After going the distance with Sandhagen, the Georgian soared to another unanimous decision victory.
Not a fairytale ending
At UFC 323 in December, Merab Dvalishvili aimed to create history by successfully defending the UFC belt four times in a year, a feat no fighter in the promotion has achieved to date, and ‘The Machine’ ran it back with Petr Yan.
This time, unfortunately, things did not go as planned by the Georgian. Although he and Yan put on a great fight, Yan was the better striker that night and did not succumb to Dvalishvili’s relentless pressure.
After 25 minutes, Yan dethroned Dvalishvili by decision and recaptured the undisputed UFC bantamweight championship.
Despite the title loss, ‘The Machine’ has been the most entertaining and active champion of the year, making him our Fighter of the Year.
Next year, ‘The Machine’ and ‘No Mercy’ are set to meet once again to complete their highly anticipated trilogy, currently tied at 1–1. We wish both fighters the very best as they prepare for this upcoming title rematch.
