Merab Dvalishvili is the bantamweight GOAT, says former champion Aljamain Sterling
UFC featherweight and former bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling has explained why he considers Merab Dvalishvili to be the greatest of all time at 135 pounds.
This year was shaping up to be something pretty special for Merab Dvalishvili. After winning the bantamweight championship last year, he was able to successfully retain it three times against Umar Nurmagomedov, Sean O’Malley and Cory Sandhagen. Unfortunately, he dared to be great and went in search of another win against Petr Yan, but in the main event of UFC 323, he came up short and lost the strap.
While some have still opted to call him Fighter of the Year, Merab Dvalishvili will be the first person to say that he needs to go back to the drawing board and figure out exactly what went wrong in the Yan rematch. Of course, Aljamain Sterling knows what it feels like to be in there against Yan, having technically defeated him twice in the midst of his own run at the top of the bantamweight division.
In a post on social media, a fan suggested that Aljamain was the real bantamweight GOAT ahead of his friend Merab Dvalishvili. Ultimately, though, Sterling explained why he doesn’t believe that’s the case.
Aljamain Sterling calls Merab Dvalishvili the bantamweight GOAT
Fan: “@MerabDvalishvil i just wanted to let you know that @funkmasterMMA is the BW goat”
Sterling: “I would say Merab trumps me with the amount of consecutive wins alone.”
Sterling has always been a pretty honest guy, and it’s nice to see him put over Merab in this way. Right now, though, both men are in need of a big performance to kickstart 2026 as they attempt to once again reach the top of their respective divisions and further enhance the great legacies they have built for themselves.
