Ray Longo Reflects on Merab Dvalishvili’s Title Defense and ‘Wild Weekend’ After UFC 320
Legendary MMA coach Ray Longo, who has trained a total of four UFC champions, was fresh off another historic moment as his latest protégé, Merab Dvalishvili, successfully defended his bantamweight title against Cory Sandhagen at UFC 320 last Saturday.
During his regularly scheduled appearance on the Anik and Florian podcast—hosted by UFC commentator Jon Anik and former three-division contender Kenny Florian. Longo recapped what he called a “wild weekend.” He cornered the reigning champion to victory, then attended former champion Aljamain Sterling’s wedding the very next day.
“Merab Dvalishvili—it’s amazing what this man has accomplished,” Longo said. “It’s crazy to think there were people who once told me he wasn’t the greatest bantamweight of all time. This man is carving out Mount Rushmore-level space.”
Anik congratulated Longo on the achievement, saying, “Congratulations on the third title defense—all of them in 2025.”
“Congrats to Merab,” the ever-humble Longo replied. “He’s a machine, and he’s earned every letter of that nickname. I don’t even know how he does it—at the afterparty at six in the morning, the guy’s jumping around like a lunatic. At Aljo’s wedding, he told me he slept an hour.”
Merab Is the storm
“I think he looked great in the first round—even after he was almost knocked out, he came back.” Longo said regarding Corey. “It was a nice, competitive fight. One guy is just relentless and doesn’t stop. He’s starting to mix it up more and add new threats, which is really scary.”
Longo continued to praise Merab: “He might be having the most fun in that Octagon out of anyone we’ve ever seen. That’s the key, to me.”
Kenny Florian followed with a poetic response: “Fate whispers to Merab Dvalishvili, ‘You can’t withstand the storm,’ and Merab is the storm.”
