Former UFC Double Champ Urges Merab Dvalishvili to Move Up —One More Rematch After UFC 323
A former UFC double champion wants bantamweight kingpin Merab Dvalishvili to move up to featherweight and become a two-division champion. However, before that, ‘The Machine’ should run it back with Umar Nurmagomedov.
Dvalishvili is slated to lock horns with Petr Yan at UFC 323 in a rematch. This will be his fourth title defense in 2025, and he aims to be the first champion in the promotion to successfully defend their belt four times in 12 months.
He has similar plans next year, hopes to fight in March and also on the UFC White House card in June.
Recently, Dvalishvili appeared on Pound 4 Pound. During the episode, Henry Cejudo suggested that if Dvalishvili gets past Petr Yan once more, then he should fight Umar and then move up to 145-pounds. ‘Triple C’ said:
“I think there needs to be a fight between you and Umar Nurmagomedov after this fight. This is my opinion… I think you should go up [after beating Umar].”
Check out Henry Cejudo’s comments below (20:14):
Merab Dvalishvili answers whether he would move up to featherweight
Currently, Merab Dvalishvili is focused on his UFC 323 fight. After that, he plans on fighting again in March and taking on any ready opponent. He also plans on fighting on the UFC White House 2026 card in June, as mentioned earlier.
After that, ‘The Machine’ might think of moving up. He mentioned on Pound 4 Pound that although he respects two-time and current featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, this is the fight business, and time will tell if the two end up locking horns. He said:
“When it will be the right time, I will go up. No problem. But right now, I think I should be focused, and I am focused on my weight class, especially since I now have a fight against Petr Yan. After that, I wanna fight in March whoever will be ready. I hope I will get the White House fight. After that, we will see how the 145 division will be, and if the UFC wants me to do it, I will do it.” [21:31]
