In Daniel Cormier’s eyes, out of all current UFC champions, Merab Dvalishvili is the one that’s best handling his career.
Cormier, a former two-division UFC champion who retired and is now working as a UFC commentator, thinks Dvalishvili (21-4 MMA, 14-2 UFC) is setting himself apart from the other champions in the UFC, making him a unique and special figure in MMA.
Advertisement
“He went from being a guy that nobody really paid attention to, to a guy that’s almost universally loved,” Cormier told MMA Junkie Radio. “That was only because he’s ever present, always doing stuff to make sure people care. It’s Merab for me.”
Apart from being quite the character and always keeping his name in the headlines, Dvalishvili is also constantly fighting. Dvalishvili is set to break the record for most UFC title defenses when he steps in the cage against Petr Yan (19-5 MMA, 11-4 UFC) next month in the main event of UFC 323 in Las Vegas.
His UFC 323 title defense is set to be his fourth of 2025, the most in a single calendar year in UFC history.
” Oh my God, Merab is making his own way,” Cormier said. “So many people do things, so many guys and girls have been champions, but this guy is doing it in a way that nobody has done it before. That’s what I like. I like that Merab is just, you know, ‘I’m just going to fight, I feel good enough.’ And what’s most impressive is that this dude has hard weight cuts, and he just fights and fights and fights. If we didn’t cut as much weight, if the weight management wasn’t as hard, we would’ve been more active. Merab has those weight cuts, and he’s still fighting four times in one calendar year. I think is Merab, man.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Daniel Cormier praises Merab Dvalishvili’s career management
