Merab Dvalishvili gets brutally honest after title loss to Petr Yan: ‘My nickname is The Machine, but I’m human’
Merab Dvalishvili has made a candid confession in a recent interview with an all-time MMA Great.
Dvalishvili lost his bantamweight title to Petr Yan last year in a rematch at UFC 323. The Georgian successfully defended his title three times in a single year and was on the verge of making history with a fourth defense until Yan played spoiler.
Due to his constant activity as a champion, the promotion has now promised him an immediate title rematch once “No Mercy” is ready.
Merab Dvalishvili breaks down UFC 323 loss, makes candid confession
During a recent interview with Demetrious Johnson, Merab Dvalishvili, while discussing his title loss, confessed once more that for UFC 323, he trained for every opponent, not specifically for Yan, and added that he’s nicknamed “The Machine,” but he can lose sometimes.
“My nickname is Machine, but I’m a human being sometimes. Against Petr, I think also what happened was that I think I can beat everybody that day, maybe except Petr. Because Petr was really training for me. And his style is different, and he’s this tough, tough fighter. Everybody else, I think I can beat. Any striker or any other fighter in my weight class except Petr… I made some mistakes during training camp… I was just doing my thing, pushing the limit, and just doing a lot of grappling rounds.”
In the rematch, Dvalishvili was taken down by Yan, and the latter also stopped multiple takedowns. During the same sit-down with “Mighty Mouse,” the Georgian admitted that he couldn’t bend Yan’s neck whenever he attempted a submission. The failed attempt backfired, and the Russian fighter capitalized by taking him down and landing the bigger shots.
Check out Merab Dvalishvili’s comments below:
Dvalishvili most recently broke his nose once more during training. However, he’s refused surgery and will only get his nose back in place once he retires. Yan, on the other hand, had lower back surgery earlier this year and is already back in the gym. Fans can expect them to meet a third sometime later this year.
