Merab Dvalishvili has laid out a sensational plan to fight for a fourth time in 2025, if he retains his title against Cory Sandhagen in October.
Dvalishvili retained the bantamweight belt with an impressive comeback win against Umar Nurmagomedov in January, rallying to outpoint the Russian despite suffering from a leg injury, before submitting old rival Sean O’Malley in June.
Those results followed the Georgian’s decision victory over O’Malley last September, when he dethroned the American. And next, Dvalishvili is scheduled to defend his gold against Sandhagen in early October.
The “Machine”, 34, will face Sandhagen in the co-main event of UFC 320 in Las Vegas, but he has a bold plan to fight again before the end of the year if he overcomes the American, 33.
“I want to turn around quick,” Dvalishvili said on the Full Send podcast on Thursday (28 August). “I don’t overlook Cory Sandhagen, it’s gonna be a tough fight, but God willing, I’m gonna do my best to win this fight.
“And if I win, I’m gonna come back quick, turn around. I want to fight in December. I will ask the UFC [for] a favour to give me another fight in December or even November.
“I don’t care, I can come back, because Petr Yan is [a] clear contender right now. He deserves it, I don’t want to make him wait too long.
“I can take a quick turnaround and fight him, and after we will see who will be next – the next contender.”
Dvalishvili previously faced Yan in 2023, beating the former champion via unanimous decision. That result was part of Dvalishvili’s ongoing 13-fight win streak, which dates back to 2018 and includes five victories over four ex-champions – two against O’Malley, and one each against Yan, Henry Cejudo, and Jose Aldo.
Yan, 32, is on a three-fight win streak that has followed a three-fight losing streak. The Russian defeated Marcus McGhee in July after beating former flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo in November and Song Yadong last March – all via decision.
If Dvalishvili is able to fight four times this year, he will match his personal record from 2016, before he reached the UFC. In that year, he won all four of his fights, while he fought and won three times in both 2017 and 2020.
