T.J. Dillashaw thinks only Umar Nurmagomedov has fought Merab Dvalishvili correctly as of late.
Dvalishvili (21-4 MMA, 14-2 UFC) notched his third title defense of the year with a smothering performance over Cory Sandhagen in this past Saturday’s UFC 320 co-main event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Dvalishvili landed 20 takedowns on Sandhagen, but Dillashaw would like to see him challenged defensively.
“I think that’s a mistake that a lot of guys make, is that they’re not shooting on him,” Dillashaw said on the “JAXXON PODCAST.” “Umar did, though. That’s why I want to see him fight Umar again, because someone needs to take him down and hold him down. Who knows how good his bottom game is?
“I don’t know. Usually, when you watch a wrestling-grappling guy, people hate watching it and it’s boring. But not Merab. He makes it entertaining. Even though all he’s doing is taking you down, he makes it entertaining. He’s never stalling.”
Nurmagomedov (18-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) landed two of 15 takedown attempts against Dvalishvili. Nurmagomedov found success early, but Dvalishvili rallied to outlast him in a unanimous decision win at UFC 311.
Former bantamweight champion Dillashaw acknowledges Dvalishvili’s relentlessness with the grappling, but has one critique.
“One thing about Merab: He’s got great takedowns, but his top control is not, like, awesome,” Dillashaw said. “You see someone like Khabib (Nurmagomedov) take you down, he’s going to wrist-ride you. He’s going to hold you down. That’s why Merab’s got like the world record of takedowns because he’s going to keep taking you down, keep taking you down.”
